Iran and the “Nuclear Domino” Myth
Matthew Kroenig continues his never–ending series
of articles promoting war with Iran. I’m not all that interested in his
argument about Obama, but I wanted to respond to some assertions that
he makes about what would happen after Iran acquired nuclear weapons.
Kroenig writes:
Nuclear weapons in Iran would spark a nuclear arms race
in the Middle East. Tehran would probably export do-it-yourself atomic
bomb kits to other countries around the world. And the global
nonproliferation regime would collapse as it became clear that the
international community lacked the resolve to stop the spread of the
world’s most dangerous weapons.
All of these claims are wrong. Johan Bergenas specifically addressed two of these claims in a 2010 article for Foreign Affairs.
He rejected the idea that the nonproliferation regime would collapse
because of a nuclear-armed Iran. On the NPT itself, he said:
Its more than 180 committed parties are unlikely to allow
Iran’s nuclear program to demolish an institution that is – and has
been for four decades – the foundation of nonproliferation efforts.
To read the full article, click here.