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The NPT, the CTBT and Pakistan: Non-adherence Posture of a De Facto Nuclear State
by Bhumitra Chakma

This article surveys the changing contour of Pakistan’s policy approach towards the NPT and the CTBT since 1947, and explains the underlying motivations as well as implications of the Pakistani postures. It analyses why Pakistan supporting the final drafts ultimately refused to sign the NPT in 1968 and the CTBT in 1996, and subsequently why resisting strong international pressure maintained a non-adherence posture towards these two regimes. In a final sub-section, this articles attempts to extrapolate the future of the Pakistani NPT and the CTBT policies.

The Domestic Sources of North Korean Conduct: Pyongyang and Comparative Communism
by Andrew Scobell

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), one of the world’s few surviving communist regimes, has attracted considerable attention in recent years. Highly repressive, heavily militarized, strongly resistant to reform, ruled by a dynastic dictatorship that adheres to a hybrid ideology, North Korea might be “the strangest political system in existence." This article contends that while distinctive, the DPRK is an orthodox communist party-state best classified as an eroding totalitarian regime. While the regime is clearly weakening, the experience of other totalitarian regimes suggests that the DPRK remains durable and can continue to survive for an extended period. A careful analysis of the Pyongyang regime suggests that suggests that absent “regime change,” North Korea is unlikely to demilitarize—including giving up its nuclear program, will continue to reject thoroughgoing economic reform, will cling to ideology for legitimacy, and make every effort to engineer a successful dynastic succession.

Theater Missile Defense and Japanese Nuclear Weapons
by Jonathan Monten and Mark Provost

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The development of a joint US-Japan theater missile defense system could have significant ramifications beyond the defense of Japan and American forces in the region. A growing debate within Japan on the redefinition of its international security position, the spread of weapons of mass destruction, and continuing questions as to the post-September 11 role of the United States in the region conspire to create the conditions for significant changes in Japan's conception of its security status and on its long-term political-military calculations. By upgrading Japan's strategic responsibilities, theater missile defense could inadvertently induce a reassessment of many of its national security policies, perhaps even the decision to forego nuclear weapons.