This is the first Nonproliferation Applied Sciences Center (NASC) Prestigious Speakers Seminar.
When is preventive war chosen to counter nuclear proliferation? In All Options on the Table, Rachel Whitlark, associate professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, looks beyond systemic and slow-moving factors such as the distribution of power. Instead, she highlights individual leaders' beliefs to explain when preventive military force is the preferred strategy. Executive perspective–not institutional structure–is paramount. Through archivally based comparative case studies, Whitlark focuses on executive decision-making regarding nuclear programs in China, North Korea, Iraq, Pakistan, and Syria.
Her research analyzes the actions of U.S. presidents John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush, as well as Israeli prime ministers Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Rabin, and Ehud Olmert. The book was selected for the 2022 Robert L. Jervis and Paul W. Schroeder Best Book Award on International History and Politics by the American political Science Association, International History and Politics Section.