Weapons State: Proliferation and Visions of Security

As the proliferation of nuclear, chemical, biological, and even conventional weapons emerges as a focal point for international security, Mutimer (political science, York U., Canada) argues that both the language used to talk about weapons proliferation and the practices adopted to respond to it, define the problem in ways that promote policy responses doomed to failure. He examines the metaphors that have swarmed to the discourse in terms of the nature of the problems they construct, the various interests they create, and the identity of the actors that are constituted.