Metaphorising Nuclear Futures The Case of the Nuclear Domino Metaphor in the US Nuclear Proliferation Discourse

<p dir="ltr">The belief in the inevitable spread of nuclear weapons has been a core feature of US nuclear politics since 1945. The nuclear domino metaphor belongs to a broader system of semantically-related metaphors that have been deeply embedded in US nuclear proliferation discourse, consistently accompanying scholarly and policymaker predictions concerning future nuclear imaginaries. Despite repeated criticism and empirical rebuttal, this metaphor has endured as a framework through which nuclear futures are imagined and framed. This thesis offers a novel perspective on how the question of ‘nuclear proliferation’ has been understood, linguistically constructed, and metaphorised in the US context. Specifically, it demonstrates how the nuclear domino metaphor has become entrenched within the US nuclear proliferation discourse as a systemic metaphor – one with strong “material and performative” effects. This study is the first of its kind to apply metaphor analysis specifically to the nuclear domino metaphor, thus filling a gap in the existing literature. By shifting away from traditional, theory-centred approaches that have historically dominated the study of the ‘nuclear domino’, this study foregrounds the metaphor’s linguistic constitution. It contends that the latter is not inherently rooted in any particular theory, convention, or ideological stance. Rather, it has evolved into a systemic metaphor within the US nuclear proliferation discourse – one that transcends theoretical boundaries, political affiliations, and resists efforts to disprove or delegitimise it. This approach enables a deeper and more systematic examination of how metaphorical images are transposed, how these transpositions generate specific effects in discourse, and what they reveal about the broader set of meanings that underpin them. While the first three chapters delineate a conceptual profile of the nuclear domino metaphor, the final three examine its more practical dimension. A comparative analysis of three case studies—the Israel-Egypt ‘domino’ in the 1960s, the India-Iran ‘domino’ in the 1970s, and Iran-Saudi ‘domino’ in the 2000s—demonstrates the metaphor’s consistent presence as a guiding lens in US policymaking across substantially different periods. While the metaphor remains a systemic feature of US nuclear proliferation discourse, its prominence and specific application closely follow tectonic shifts in the US nuclear imaginary. Each reconfiguration of the purported ‘dominoes’ reflects evolving US conceptions of threat, security, and the perceived stability of the global nuclear order.</p>