Influence without Arms

Matthew Fuhrmann is a professor of political science in the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A & M University. He has been a Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (2010–11) and held visiting positions at Harvard University (2007-08), Stanford University (2016–17), and Yale University (2023–24). He is the author of Atomic Assistance: How 'Atoms for Peace' Programs Cause Nuclear Insecurity (2012) and co-author of Nuclear Weapons and Coercive Diplomacy (Cambridge, 2017). He was named an Andrew Carnegie Fellow by the Carnegie Corporation of New York in 2016. His research has been mentioned in national media outlets such as The New York Times, The New Yorker, CNN, and NPR.

'Influence without Arms is the most sophisticated study to date of how a state's ability to build nuclear weapons in the near future impacts its behavior and that of its rivals today. Fuhrmann's conclusions about the possibility of deterrence without actual weapons deployment are novel and should be widely read and debated.' Scott D. Sagan, Stanford University, author of The Limits of Safety

• Introduction; 1. The logic of latent nuclear deterrence; 2. What leaders think: beliefs about latent deterrence; 3. Almost nuclear: identifying latent nuclear powers; 4. Causes of nuclear latency: why technology spreads; 5. Reaping rewards: deterring conflict and gaining influence; 6 Backlash: explaining preventive attacks; 7. Arms races: deterring weapons proliferation; 8. Nuclear latency in world politics; References.