Role of moral foundations in the nuclear disarmament of South Africa

Abstract

South Africa is the only country in the world that successfully acquired a nuclear deterrent capability in the form of six nuclear devices and dismantled them completely. Explanations include strategic reasons, i.e.: the security conditions of the country changed subsequent to the removal of the Soviet threat after the Soviet collapse in 1989 and an end to superpower rivalry in Africa; the increasing isolation of South Africa on account of apartheid; and, pressure from the United States, and concerns about undeclared nuclear technology falling in the hands of a black-led government. While these factors potentially contributed to the eventual dismantlement, the worldwide campaign led by domestic and transnational movements that sought to make moral claims by connecting the cause of anti-apartheid to that of nuclear disarmament likely played a role. In the study reported here, I applied moral foundations theory to the South African case to explore the role played by moral claims in the eventual disarmament.