All Options on the Table

When is preventive war chosen to counter nuclear proliferation? In All Options on the Table, Rachel Elizabeth Whitlark 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.

Whitlark makes her argument through archivally based comparative case studies. She focuses on executive decision making regarding nuclear programs in China, North Korea, Iraq, Pakistan, and Syria. This book considers the actions of US 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. All Options on the Table demonstrates that leaders have different beliefs about the consequences of nuclear proliferation in the international system and their state's ability to deter other states' nuclear activity. These divergent beliefs lead to variation in leaders' preferences regarding the use of preventive military force as a counter-proliferation strategy.

The historical evidence amassed in All Options on the Table bears on strategic assessments of aspiring nuclear powers such as Iran and North Korea. Whitlark argues that only those leaders who believe that nuclear proliferation is destabilizing for the international system will consider preventive force to counter such challenges. In a complex nuclear world, this insight helps explain why the use of force as a counter-proliferation strategy has been an extremely rare historical event.

Rachel Elizabeth Whitlark is Assistant Professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, Georgia Institute of Technology. Whitlark's articles have appeared in Security Studies, International Studies Quarterly, and International Studies Perspectives. Follow her on X @RachelWhitlark

Using case studies of US presidents and Israeli prime ministers, Rachel Elizabeth Whitlark makes an important contribution to the international relations literature. Her astute analysis of political psychology provides insight into the dangers of nuclear proliferation and the impact that leaders and their beliefs can have on such decision making.

Matthew C. Fuhrmann, Texas A&M University, author of Atomic Assistance:

Rachel Elizabeth Whitlark's All Options on the Table convincingly demonstrates that variation in the beliefs of world leaders explain an important foreign policy outcome: preventive attacks against nuclear programs. Growing strategic interest in the use of military force to stop or delay nuclear armament means this book is all the more timely.

Malfrid Braut-Hegghammer, University of Oslo, author of Unclear Physics:

All Options on the Table contributes key insights to longstanding debates about the use of force to prevent states from acquiring nuclear weapons. Rachel E. Whitlark helps us better understand the role of leaders and their beliefs in the nuclear realm.