Nuclear Ambitions and Their Implications

Abstract: China and Russia are two influential powers within the international system which have different understandings of the threshold of nuclear use. The purpose and effect of possessing nuclear weapons have been widely researched but have yet to be utilised to analyse the broader effect on security. This thesis intends to understand the relationship between nuclear weapons’ purpose and the role and ontological security of a state. By utilising a theoretical framework consisting of role theory and ontological security, the paper analyses the military policies of China and Russia to identify the influence of nuclear weapons’ function on state identity and security. The paper uses the method of qualitative content analysis which allows for an analysis of the embedded purposes and meanings in official documents. The analysis comparatively examines the policies of a singular state. In turn, the discussion is comprised of a comparative analysis of the findings of the Chinese and Russian policies. The results illustrate how the purpose and changes to the purpose of nuclear weapons affect which role a state adopts and how the function of nuclear weapons and the enacted role influences the ontological security of the state.