Introduction
Northeast Asia is the only region in the world in which the technological potential to make nuclear weapons is combined with deep-seated (though currently attenuated) historical animosities. In Western Europe and North America the nuclear capabilities exist but not the enmity: in other regions, enmity is not matched by capability. In South Asia the technical potential to go nuclear has already been realized and curbing vertical proliferation India and Pakistan has become the name of the game. It is a commonplace of strategic analysis that when political relationships deteriorate, perceived threats become a function the capabilities of adversaries. Thus the technical capabilities of regional states to make nuclear weapons must be a concern regional security planners in an uncertain strategic environment. This concern will exist notwithstanding the fact that all regional states are now members of the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT). There are two reasons for this.
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