I second Aurelia´s commendation of Ronald Dore for thought provoking piece; whether one agrees with it or not it is well worth the read; and her thanks to SSJ-Forum for being willing to publish this piece.
Moreover, I especially agree with Professor Dore that to date John Mueller´s Nuclear Obsession (Oxford University Press, 2010) has not gotten the attention it richly deserves. Mueller`s most important argument is that "our efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons have produced more suffering and violence than the bombs themselves." He not only demonstrates that chemical and biological weapons are too small in scale to demonstrate being called Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), but also that many nuclear nightmare scenarios grossly exaggerate the power of nuclear weapons (i.e.
that a nuclear bomb in a suitcase could destroy a city). Mueller´s book is well worth consulting when thinking about how to respond to Iranian or North Korean nuclear programs.

Best,

Paul Midford