Dilemma Of The U.S. Nonproliferation Policy During Carter Administration

U.S.nuclear nonproliferation policy is formed after the world war II.Nuclear weapons accelerate the process of the end of world war II,but also make all peoples have seen astonishing destructiveness and deterrence of nuclear weapons.As far as U.S.is concerned,nuclear proliferation could lead to regional and global nuclear wars,but also to preserve America's superiority and position in nuclear.Successive U.S.administrations have adopted nuclear non-proliferation policy to curb proliferation by reducing nuclear arsenals,nuclear technology,nuclear materials and peaceful use of nuclear energy and so on,but the overlap in technology and materials between nuclear energy development and nuclear weapons programs provides the conditions for countries who seeking to develop nuclear weapons.India's nuclear test in 1974 was a shock to the U.S.nuclear non-proliferation policy and the international non-proliferation regime.The Carter administration adopted a tougher nonproliferation policy but failed to curb proliferation.This paper mainly uses the relevant declassified American documents in recent years and takes the Vela Incident as a case to discuss the dilemma of the U.S.nuclear non-proliferation policy during the Carter administration in three chapters.The first chapter discusses the nuclear non-proliferation policy during the Carter administration.In order to maintain its own nuclear superiority and status,successive U.S.administrations have pursued the policy of nuclear non-proliferation since the nuclear weapons was born.Although it was short,the Carter administration was the toughest on nonproliferation in history.First and foremost,because of historical tradition,the great deterrent power of nuclear weapons inspired the determination of potential nuclear states to develop nuclear weapons.After the founding of the United Nations,American successive administrations and the international community took measures to curb nuclear proliferation.Whether it was the international community or the United States government,adopting the nuclear non-proliferation policy was the general trend and an important way to achieve win-win results.Secondly,realistic conditions were pushing for Carter to implement nuclear nonproliferation policy as it may face huge challenges.There were calls in the United States to expand its nuclear arsenal to again an advantage in the strategic relationship between the United States and the Soviet union,and India's nuclear test exacerbated the trend toward international proliferation.Under conditions,Carter Administration introduced nuclear nonproliferation policies from Safeguards,Restraints on Sensitive Transfers,Incentive measures,Measures to Affect Motivations,Double Standards in pursuing the nonproliferation policies and so on,and it faced skepticism from the Soviet Union potential nuclear power and NATO.The second chapter is about the Vela Incident and the different attitudes of the United States.On September 22,1979,the Vela satellite detected signs what may be a secret nuclear test by Israel and South Africa near the South Atlantic Ocean.On the basis of a large number of declassified files and data analysis,this chapter attempts to restore the truth of the Vela Incident,and discusses the different attitudes between the government and other parties.Because of national interests,the U.S.government claimed that the Vela Incident was more likely a natural phenomenon,which led to the scientific community questioning the government's conclusions and the international community questioning the U.S.nuclear non-proliferation policy,especially the U.S.nuclear surveillance system.Taking the Vela Incident as a case,it is more helpful to study the dilemma faced by the U.S.nuclear non-proliferation policy during the Carter administration.Chapter three discusses the influence of the Vela Incident on the U.S.nuclear non-proliferation policy and how to deal with the diplomatic dilemma,which caused by the Vela Incident.Vela Incident has strengthened American's nuclear nonproliferation policy as o whole,but it hasn't changed its double standards.The Vela Incident also led to changes in U.S.-Soviet nuclear relations and U.S.nuclear co-operation with NATO.As international nuclear situation is more and more tense at present,the study of the Carter administration's nuclear non-proliferation policy has great historical value and reference significance for us to study the future U.S.nuclear non-proliferation policy and the international nuclear non-proliferation mechanism.