Civilizational pride, not just security, drove Pakistan’s nuclear program

Evidence

Looking back on his efforts to develop a “full nuclear capability” for Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto justified those efforts: “We know that Israel and South Africa have full nuclear capability. The Christian, Jewish and Hindu civilizations have this capability. Only the Islamic civilization was without it, but that position was about to change.” — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 888

Categorization

• SHARE: Bhutto’s framing of nuclear capability as a civilizational status marker is a great quote for anyone interested in South Asian geopolitics or nuclear history.