The ‘Iran Nuclear Problem' has come to absorb much media, policymaking, and academic energy. In the academic realm, most studies offer mono-causal policy-oriented explanations for Iran's pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability. With some contrast, this paper offers a multi-causal explanation for Iran's pursuit, suggesting that drivers of Iran's nuclear ambitions exist at the international, national, and individual levels of influence on state behavior. It illustrates this with a three-lensed theoretical analysis of Iranian security policy from the perspectives of the neo-realist, strategic culture, and nuclear \"mythmaking” models of analysis. In so doing, it finds that that the structured application of multiple academic theories can generate real-world insights into state behavior, and that the indicators generated by the mythmaking model, in particular, are quite practical for U.S. policy toward Iran.
","abstract_html":"<p>The ‘Iran Nuclear Problem' has come to absorb much media, policymaking, and academic energy. In the academic realm, most studies offer mono-causal policy-oriented explanations for Iran's pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability. With some contrast, this paper offers a multi-causal explanation for Iran's pursuit, suggesting that drivers of Iran's nuclear ambitions exist at the international, national, and individual levels of influence on state behavior. It illustrates this with a three-lensed theoretical analysis of Iranian security policy from the perspectives of the neo-realist, strategic culture, and nuclear "mythmaking” models of analysis. In so doing, it finds that that the structured application of multiple academic theories can generate real-world insights into state behavior, and that the indicators generated by the mythmaking model, in particular, are quite practical for U.S. policy toward Iran.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Hoyt, B. Bates"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science in Defense and Strategic Studies","degree_level":"Masters","degree_discipline":"Defense and Strategic Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Robert Joseph"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2012-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:16:23Z","subjects":["proliferation","Iran","nuclear weapons","international security","mythmaking","Defense and Security Studies"],"languages":[],"rights":["© B. Bates Hoyt"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/1358","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Robert Joseph"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Hoyt, B. Bates"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2021-12-31T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Defense and Strategic Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science in Defense and Strategic Studies"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["proliferation","Iran","nuclear weapons","international security","mythmaking","Defense and Security Studies"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["© B. Bates Hoyt"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/1358"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The ‘Iran Nuclear Problem' has come to absorb much media, policymaking, and academic energy. In the academic realm, most studies offer mono-causal policy-oriented explanations for Iran's pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability. With some contrast, this paper offers a multi-causal explanation for Iran's pursuit, suggesting that drivers of Iran's nuclear ambitions exist at the international, national, and individual levels of influence on state behavior. It illustrates this with a three-lensed theoretical analysis of Iranian security policy from the perspectives of the neo-realist, strategic culture, and nuclear \"mythmaking” models of analysis. In so doing, it finds that that the structured application of multiple academic theories can generate real-world insights into state behavior, and that the indicators generated by the mythmaking model, in particular, are quite practical for U.S. policy toward Iran.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Nuclear Proliferation Theory and Practice: the Case of Iran"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Robert Joseph"],"dc:creator":["Hoyt, B. Bates"],"dc:date.available":["2021-12-31T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The ‘Iran Nuclear Problem' has come to absorb much media, policymaking, and academic energy. In the academic realm, most studies offer mono-causal policy-oriented explanations for Iran's pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability. With some contrast, this paper offers a multi-causal explanation for Iran's pursuit, suggesting that drivers of Iran's nuclear ambitions exist at the international, national, and individual levels of influence on state behavior. It illustrates this with a three-lensed theoretical analysis of Iranian security policy from the perspectives of the neo-realist, strategic culture, and nuclear \"mythmaking” models of analysis. In so doing, it finds that that the structured application of multiple academic theories can generate real-world insights into state behavior, and that the indicators generated by the mythmaking model, in particular, are quite practical for U.S. policy toward Iran.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/1358"],"dc:rights":["© B. Bates Hoyt"],"dc:subject":["proliferation","Iran","nuclear weapons","international security","mythmaking","Defense and Security Studies"],"dc:title":["Nuclear Proliferation Theory and Practice: the Case of Iran"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Defense and Strategic Studies"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science in Defense and Strategic Studies"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:16:23Z"}