Growth Of Nuclear Weapons Throughout The World example essay topic

POLS 131: Introduction to Political Science Cumberland College Spring 2003 January 22, 2003 Jason Faulkner Quester, George H. Some Conceptual Problems in Nuclear Proliferation. The American Political Science Review (c). 1972. An article published in the American Political Science Review addresses the problems of the growing numbers of nuclear weapons in the 1970's and the estimated time when countries, such as India, may have nuclear capabilities. The article assures the reader that the spread of nuclear weapons may not be a hopeless battle, but it may also never be an accomplish able goal. Quester gives his readers insight to ways that nuclear bombs are being built and how necessary components, such as plutonium, can't be found on every street corner in the world.

These ingredients are very difficult to acquire and it is taking these countries longer to gain control of these rare components thus making it more difficult for them to enter the nuclear arms race. Quester uses a "Traditional Approach" in delivering his article. According to the Thomas M. Magstadt's Understanding Politics, the "Traditional Approach" to politics is giving equal emphasis to evaluation. This is exactly what the author is doing in this article. He is evaluating the growth of nuclear weapons throughout the world. Quester evaluates legal observations, as well as historical references in order to come across his point of the problems that the world could face with the spread of nuclear weapons.

The author's perspective on this problem is simple. Quester addresses that the growth of nuclear weapons is definitely a problem that needs to be addressed. The one thing that was difficult to understand was the fact that he really didn't give examples of "how" this problem could be averted. His perspective was merely on an informative basis and not on a problem solving one. The strongest point of this article has to be his research on the topic. Quester has every point he addresses thoroughly researched and with some points, he has even included visual aids to more clearly address his points.

One weakness of this article has to be the absence of politics in his presentation. For a political science article he described the legalities of nuclear weapons very little. He made reference to treaties such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), but he failed to explain how these organizations can help the problem. I feel that this article may have been better suited as a history article on the advancements of nuclear weapons in the 70's.