ANALYZING THE TRENDS OF NUCLEARIZATION IN EAST ASIA UNDER POSTURE OPTIMIZATION THEORY: CASE STUDY OF JAPAN’S PURSUIT OF NUCLEAR DETERRENCE (2012-2022)
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Date
2023-05-18
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DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Abstract
The emerging global landscapes of nuclear policies are an important phenomenon of the 21st
century that had sparked different strategic questions. A much similar question was posed by Vipin
Narang who in his Theory of Posture Optimization attempted to fill some of the gaps that explain
why states acquire particular nuclear postures. With the discussion about strategies of nuclear
proliferation and postulates of posture optimization, this research paper discusses the trends of
nuclearization in the East Asian Region and the typology of nuclear postures of the regional states.
The threat of continuous introduction of modernized militaristic and nuclear technologies in the
region has created strategic instability, resulting in the pursuit of more secure second-strike
capability by the countries, and forming the heart of conventional warfighting and deterrence
strategies. This paper mainly focuses on the implications this regional nuclearization is leaving on
the Japanese efforts of optimizing its nuclear posture, with the country left struggling with a
parallel pursuit of disarmament and nuclear deterrence. In this struggle, the extra-regional alliances
namely, with the United States and its fluctuating extended deterrence policy of nuclear umbrella
are turning the tide of Japan’s security optimism. In this enigmatic approach there might be certain
possible regional implications that Japan has to face, further confining its policy choices