Who Pursues the Bomb? Leaders’ Education Abroad and the Development of Weapons of Mass Destruction

Matsuura, Yuki; Kubota, Masanori; Hidaka, Kaoru; Yukawa, Taku

Who Pursues the Bomb? Leaders’ Education Abroad and the Development of Weapons of Mass Destruction

Matsuura, Yuki; Kubota, Masanori; Hidaka, Kaoru et al.

OSIPP Discussion Paper, 2024, DP-2024-E-005, 1-15

Number of Access:472（2025-09-03 12:15 Counts）

Identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/11094/96509

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Title	Who Pursues the Bomb? Leaders’ Education Abroad and the Development of Weapons of Mass Destruction
Creator	CreatorName Matsuura, Yuki
	NRID 1000070902419 1000070902419 researchmap permalink m.kubota m.kubota CreatorName Kubota, Masanori
	NRID 1000070806124 1000070806124 CreatorName Hidaka, Kaoru
	NRID 1000080728775 1000080728775 CreatorName Yukawa, Taku
Subject	Weapons of Mass Destruction
	Personal Biography Approach
	political leader
	foreign education
Abstract	What personal characteristics influence political leaders to pursue weapons of mass destruction (WMDs)? Although an extensive body of research addresses the factors that contribute to WMD proliferation, systematic studies on the impact of leaders' biographical factors remain scarce. Thus, this study presents a new theory that focuses on the effects of Western educational experiences on leaders' beliefs and values regarding WMD development. A statistical analysis using data on leaders' studies abroad from 1945 to 2000 found that, in general, studying in Western countries made leaders less likely to pursue both nuclear weapons and chemical and biological weapons. However, leaders who studied in Western nuclear powers were more likely to pursue nuclear development after taking office but less likely to pursue chemical and biological weapons. Our findings that study-abroad destinations have contrasting causal effects on nuclear and as well as chemical and biological weapons proliferation provide an alternative perspective to the dominant view in conventional WMD proliferation studies, which understands the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons by analogy with nuclear weapons.
Publisher	Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka University
Source Title	OSIPP Discussion Paper
Volume (Issue)	DP-2024-E-005
Page	1-15
Date of Issued	2024-07-01
Language	English
Handle URL	https://hdl.handle.net/11094/96509
Relation.references	URI https://www.osipp.osaka-u.ac.jp/archives/DP/2024/DP2024E005.pdf
Access Rights	metadata only access
Category	ディスカッション／ワーキング・ペーパー DP/WP
Category	OSIPP Discussion Paper

Resource Type	technical report
Local Type	DP/WP
DCMI Type	Text
DCTERMS.bibliographicCitation	OSIPP Discussion Paper. 2024, DP-2024-E-005, p. 1-15
DC.title	Who Pursues the Bomb? Leaders’ Education Abroad and the Development of Weapons of Mass Destruction
DC.creator	Matsuura, Yuki
	Kubota, Masanori
	Hidaka, Kaoru
	Yukawa, Taku
DC.publisher	Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka University
DC.language' scheme='DCTERMS.RFC1766	English
DC.type' scheme='DCTERMS.DCMIType	Text
DCTERMS.issued' scheme='DCTERMS.W3CDTF	2024-07-01
DC.relation' scheme='DCTERMS.URI	https://www.osipp.osaka-u.ac.jp/archives/DP/2024/DP2024E005.pdf
DC.subject	Weapons of Mass Destruction
	Personal Biography Approach
	political leader
	foreign education
DCTERMS.abstract	What personal characteristics influence political leaders to pursue weapons of mass destruction (WMDs)? Although an extensive body of research addresses the factors that contribute to WMD proliferation, systematic studies on the impact of leaders' biographical factors remain scarce. Thus, this study presents a new theory that focuses on the effects of Western educational experiences on leaders' beliefs and values regarding WMD development. A statistical analysis using data on leaders' studies abroad from 1945 to 2000 found that, in general, studying in Western countries made leaders less likely to pursue both nuclear weapons and chemical and biological weapons. However, leaders who studied in Western nuclear powers were more likely to pursue nuclear development after taking office but less likely to pursue chemical and biological weapons. Our findings that study-abroad destinations have contrasting causal effects on nuclear and as well as chemical and biological weapons proliferation provide an alternative perspective to the dominant view in conventional WMD proliferation studies, which understands the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons by analogy with nuclear weapons.
DC.format	96509
citation_title	Who Pursues the Bomb? Leaders’ Education Abroad and the Development of Weapons of Mass Destruction
citation_author	Matsuura, Yuki
	Kubota, Masanori
	Hidaka, Kaoru
	Yukawa, Taku
citation_publisher	Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka University
citation_language	English
citation_date	2024-07-01
citation_journal_title	OSIPP Discussion Paper
citation_volume	DP-2024-E-005
citation_firstpage	1
citation_lastpage	15
citation_public_url	https://hdl.handle.net/11094/96509
citation_abstract_html_url	https://www.osipp.osaka-u.ac.jp/archives/DP/2024/DP2024E005.pdf

Who Pursues the Bomb? Leaders’ Education Abroad and the Development of Weapons of Mass Destruction

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