FATIMA SHAKEEL2025-08-282025-08-282022https://escholar.umt.edu.pk/handle/123456789/5561The aim of this research project is to determine why some states were able to comply with the Nonproliferation Treaty while some weren’t, for example, the case of Iran and Pakistan. Both these states started nuclear proliferation during the cold war arms race. This paper departs from the very puzzling fact that under the non-proliferation many states have officially stopped proliferating whereas some aren’t abiding which leads to confusion as the ones proliferating are much more feared than the ones adhering to it. There were many reasons that account for Iran’s ratification in February 1970 and eventually breaching after the closure of Clandestine Nuclear Program in 2002, in contrast to Pakistan’s refusal. This paper will be looking forward to the following frameworks; the vulnerability of the state in the context of the economy, international pressure mounted against the state, political contestation internally and externally, and security liabilities. We will look into how these factors will lead to a state’s decision-making regarding nuclear proliferation. The emphasis will be on decision-making, whether it has been influenced by the above four factors mentioned.en-USThesis