What are the relations between the emergence of a state on the international scene and nuclear proliferation? The claim that the acquisition of nuclear arms systems is a condition or consequence of the emergence of a state is called into question here on the basis of a tripartite analysis.

This paper delineates a transdisciplinary research project tracing the evolution of fundamental categories of strategic thought and their relationship to the presence of nuclear weapons in the world. It tackles the following paradox of international nuclear history : on the one hand, “rupture talk” is widespread and with it several “revolutions” are evoked ; on the other hand, the concepts used by strategists and policymakers to analyse challenges of today and tomorrow have been crafted before those “revolutions”.