Development and Management of the Pakistani Nuclear Weapons Program: The Discord Between Civil Authority and the Military
Public Deposited- Last Modified
- February 26, 2019
- Creator
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Werk, Emily Ellen
- Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Curriculum in Peace, War, and Defense
- Abstract
- The Pakistani nuclear weapons program represents decades of sacrifice, sanctions and scientific development. Condemned by the international community and its rival, India, the program has also been controversial. For Pakistanis, it embodies the resolve of the Pakistani leadership and scientific community to produce one of the greatest technological feats of the 21st century: an atomic bomb. However, developing a bomb was not without its challenges. This thesis analyzes the relationship between civilian leaders and the military throughout the evolution of the program. While the nuclear program began under a civilian leader, the program did not remain under civilian control. This thesis argues that the inability of the Pakistani political system to produce legitimate democratic leadership led the military to assume de facto responsibility for the nuclear arsenal and the perceived survival of the nation. Much of the existing literature agrees that the Pakistani military dictates nuclear policy, development and management. This thesis analyzes Pakistani civil-military relations since partition and examines how this relationship between civilian leaders and military officials influenced the development and management of the nuclear arsenal. Investigating the historical narrative of Pakistani civil-military relations and the Pakistani nuclear weapons program is critical to understanding how the military came to possess de facto control of the arsenal. This thesis begins at the partition of the British Indian Empire that formed two separate nations, India and Pakistan, in 1947. The objective of the first chapter is to give some historical context to the Pakistani security paradigm. The following chapters examine the conflict between civilian leaders and the military and discuss how this discord ultimately led to military control of the nuclear weapons program. The final chapter examines the current de jure nuclear command and control structure with the Prime Minister as chairman. However, despite the de jure authority of civilian leaders, an unstable and unreliable political environment led to the military’s de facto control of the arsenal.
- Date of publication
- spring 2015
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- Note
- Funding: Gillian T. Cell Honors Thesis Research Fund; Peace, War & Defense Department
- Advisor
- Caddell, Joseph
- Degree
- Bachelor of Arts
- Honors level
- Highest Honors
- Degree granting institution
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Extent
- 103
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