Addictive rewards in nuclear weapons development

Abstract

Over the next decade the U.S. plans to invest U.S.$45 billion in the Stockpile Stewardship and Management Program for nuclear weapons research, development, testing and production. In constant dollars, that amount is well in excess of the annual Cold War spending average of U.S.S3.64 billion for directly comparable activities. The recent testing of nuclear weapons by India and Pakistan are cases of nuclear weapons development unrelated to military security needs. Could there be analogous psychological needs driving nuclear weapons programs in the U.S. long after the Soviet Union has ceased to exist?