This is from memory, not RESEARCH, but that memory tells me that when North Korea and Pakistan got nukes, and Pakistan handed out nuke tech like candy all around the world, the WAR IS THE ANSWER TO EVERYTHING crowd just shrugged. I suspect their "fear" of other countries getting nukes is less about fearing they'll use them, and more about fearing that it will make us harder for us to bomb them into freedom.
Whatever the reality, the concept of MAD still exists. No one who uses nukes against us can expect to survive. It's all pretty silly. I don't want nuclear proliferation, but we've been telling countries for years that having them is the best way to prevent us from attacking them.
