Curbing Nuclear Latency: How International Norms Promote Benign Nuclear Assistance
Kim, Lami.
2018
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Does civil nuclear assistance increase the risk of nuclear
proliferation? Previous scholarship suggests a positive correlation between civil
nuclear assistance and nuclear weapons proliferation. However, a close scrutiny
reveals that this theory explains only the first half of the nuclear era but not
afterwards. Why did civil nuclear assistance facilitate the development of nuclear
weapons in ... read moresome cases but not in others? My dissertation demonstrates that the
answer lies in the multilateral nuclear export control regime that emerged in the
mid-1970s. The nuclear export environment has changed dramatically since the
Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) established restrictions over sensitive nuclear
assistance, which allows recipients to achieve "nuclear latency" in the mid-1970s.
Since then, sensitive nuclear assistance has significantly decreased and so has
the proliferation risks involving civil nuclear assistance. Drawing on
institutionalism, constructivism and discursive theory, I argue that the NSG has
made states refrain from sensitive nuclear assistance by raising the costs of such
assistance, on one hand, and strengthening the benefits accrued by refraining from
it, on the other. The NSG has succeeded not only by forcing states to act within
the boundary of justifiable behavior under NSG norms, but also by socializing
states into embracing these norms. In order to find empirical evidence, my
dissertation employs qualitative case studies of France, West Germany and China,
based on archival materials, interviews and secondary sources.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Tufts University, 2018.
Submitted to the Dept. of International Law and Organization.
Advisor: Robert Pfaltzgraff.
Committee: Ian Johnstone, and Anne Sartori.
Keyword: International relations.read less - ID:
- 1257b545r
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