Why Every Nuclear Power Built the Bomb (And Everyone Else Hasn't) - William Spaniel

Nuclear weapons are the pinnacle of military power. However, only ten countries have ever developed them, and only nine still have them today. Why did those ten countries go down that route? And what has stopped everyone else from obtaining a nuclear weapon? The answers range from straightforward power politics to bizarre domestic political concerns.

0:00 Who Has Nuclear Weapons?
2:40 The United States
4:23 The Soviet Union
5:28 The United Kingdom
6:34 France
8:05 China
9:03 "Recognized" Nuclear Powers
9:29 Israel
10:17 India
11:24 South Africa
12:56 Pakistan
13:34 North Korea
14:28 Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine
20:22 Capacity to Build a Nuclear Weapon
22:40 Egypt
23:19 General Negotiations, Argentina, and Brazil
23:54 NATO Countries
24:30 Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan
24:59 Lines on Maps, Nuclear Proliferation Style
25:37 Cost of Nuclear Weapons
27:09 Economic Sanctions
27:49 Preventive War, Iraq, and Syria
28:43 Iran
30:01 An 11 Year Old Easter Egg

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About William Spaniel:

I am a political scientist who studies war, nuclear proliferation, and terrorism (mostly) using formal models. Currently, I am an associate professor in the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Political Science. Before that, I was a Stanton Nuclear Security Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford’s Center for International Security and Cooperation. I received a PhD from the University of Rochester in 2015.