No matter how hard we have tried to prevent nuclear proliferation, eventually other countries have managed to develop nuclear weapons.
Currently these countries possess nuclear weapons:
United States
Britain
China
France
India
Pakistan
Russia
Israel (unacknowledged)
North Korea (unverified)
(The United States is the only country to have ever actually used nuclear weapons.)
The lesson that North Korea and Iran learned from Bush's "Axis of Evil" speech and the subsequent invasion of Iraq was that they'd better hurry and develop nuclear weapons.
At best we can only delay, not prevent other nations from developing nuclear weapons. Our emphasis should be on maintaining cordial relations with other countries, not on badgering them into delaying weapons development.
Two years ago, the leaders of Saudi Arabia told international atomic regulators that they could foresee no need for the kingdom to develop nuclear power. Today, they are scrambling to hire atomic contractors, buy nuclear hardware and build support for a regional system of reactors.
So, too, Turkey is preparing for its first atomic plant. And Egypt has announced plans to build one on its Mediterranean coast. In all, roughly a dozen states in the region have recently turned to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna for help in starting their own nuclear programs. While interest in nuclear energy is rising globally, it is unusually strong in the Middle East.
“The rules have changed,” King Abdullah II of Jordan recently told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. “Everybody’s going for nuclear programs.”
Now, roughly a dozen [states in the Middle East ] are doing so and drawing up atomic plans.
The newly interested states include Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Yemen and the seven sheikdoms of the United Arab Emirates — Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Al Fujayrah, Ras al Khaymah, Sharjah, and Umm al Qaywayn.
In all, 85 percent of the gulf states — all but Iraq — have declared their interest in nuclear power. By comparison, 15 percent of South American nations and 20 percent of African ones have done so.
Source: "Eye on Iran, Rivals Pursuing Nuclear Power" By WILLIAM J. BROAD and DAVID E. SANGER - NY Times - April 15, 2007
Source: NY Times - 10/15/06