Nuclear Weapons in Foreign Policy

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Molly Berkemeier ◽  
Matthew Fuhrmann
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
Nuclear Proliferation ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
World Politics ◽  
International Peace ◽  
Dual Use ◽  
Coercive Diplomacy ◽  
Nuclear Strategy

This essay reviews academic research on the role of nuclear weapons in foreign policy. It begins by discussing the “Theory of the Nuclear Revolution,” which holds that nuclear weapons revolutionized world politics due to their overwhelming destructive capacity. The article then identifies several ways in which this theory has been challenged in scholarship. The article focuses in particular on four big debates in the literature on nuclear weapons and foreign policy: Does nuclear proliferation promote international peace and stability? Are nuclear weapons useful for coercive diplomacy? Do nuclear weapons make countries more assertive? How does nuclear strategy influence deterrence and security? After discussing these debates, the article concludes by calling for more research on the implications of dual-use nuclear technology for foreign policy and international security.

Role of Enforcement in Stabilization of Non-Proliferation Regime

2010 ◽  
pp. 14-27
Author(s):  
A. Kalyadin
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
Nuclear Proliferation ◽  
World Politics ◽  
The World ◽  
Positive Effect ◽  
The Way

The practical use of nuclear weapons displayed the necessity to toughen the responsibility for serious contempt of the international legal non-proliferation norm, to make the NPT regime more "sharp-toothed", to fill vivid gaps in this regime and place a reliable safety screen in the way of nuclear arsenals creation. The author investigates the means and tools of nuclear proliferation interception, and suggests options to produce an essential positive effect by weakening of pressure on the world politics from some countries' powerful forces which make the case for other legitimized coercion sources referring to the "ineffectiveness" of the UN.

5. The Developing World in International Politics

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Hobden
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
International Politics ◽  
Developing World ◽  
International System ◽  
Nuclear Proliferation ◽  
Global Politics ◽  
The Cold War

This chapter examines the role of developing countries in international politics. International relations, as a discipline, has traditionally overlooked the significance of the developing world in global politics. The chapter begins by discussing the reasons for this and why such an oversight is lamentable. It then considers the position of the developing world throughout the large structural changes that have occurred in the international system since 1945: North–South relations during and after the Cold War and the emerging multipolar world, in which China is anticipated to return to the centre of international politics. The chapter also explores topics such as the United Nations’s involvement in development issues and its role in decolonization, U.S. foreign policy under the two Obama administrations, and nuclear proliferation.

scholarly journals Theoretical Approaches to Nuclear Proliferation

2015 ◽  
pp. 130-138
Author(s):  
K. S. Tarasov
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
Nuclear Proliferation ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Security Environment ◽  
Future Research Agenda ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
Major Factors

This article analyses discussions between representatives of three schools in the theory of international relations - realism, liberalism and constructivism - on the driving factors of nuclear proliferation. The paper examines major theoretical approaches, outlined in the studies of Russian and foreign scientists, to the causes of nuclear weapons development, while unveiling their advantages and limitations. Much of the article has been devoted to alternative approaches, particularly, the role of mathematical modeling in assessing proliferation risks. The analysis also reveals a variety of different approaches to nuclear weapons acquisition, as well as the absence of a comprehensive proliferation theory. Based on the research results the study uncovers major factors both favoring and impeding nuclear proliferation. The author shows that the lack of consensus between realists, liberals and constructivists on the nature of proliferation led a number of scientists to an attempt to explain nuclear rationale by drawing from the insights of more than one school in the theory of IR. Detailed study of the proliferation puzzle contributes to a greater understating of contemporary international realities, helps to identify mechanisms that are most likely to deter states from obtaining nuclear weapons and is of the outmost importance in predicting short- and long-term security environment. Furthermore, analysis of the existing scientific literature on nuclear proliferation helps to determine future research agenda of the subject at hand.

scholarly journals Oliver Tambo’s International Policy: Unique Features of the South African Foreign Policy Process and Personality Factor

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 293-301
Author(s):  
Alexandra Alexandrovna Arkhangelskaya
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Socioeconomic Development ◽  
World Politics ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
External Representation ◽  
Personality Factor ◽  
Leading Role

The aim of the work is to develop an understanding of the role of Oliver Tambo as the actual head of the foreign policy department of South Africa during the period of implementation of the policy of apartheid and the process of decolonization of the African continent. The author’s thesis is that the African National Congress (ANC) foreign policy during the period of South Africa’s activities as a state supporting racial segregation was of the nature of external representation. The development of foreign policy was identical to the formation of a new state. The uniqueness of the analyzed situation is expressed in the fact that for the first time in history, international relations were established not only by a party that does not politically agree with state ideology, but also does not show its loyalty to any political blocs. The theses presented by Oliver Tambo in the conditions of the Cold War were democratic, consistent with the principles of civil choice and were not identified as the need for armed confrontation. It is these aspects that enabled the transition of power to the radical majority to avoid prolonged civil wars or conflicts involving international armed groups. The basis of the methodology is the understanding of the international process during the liberation of Africa and the choice of allies for this process by representatives of the leading world powers. The author uses the historical method and the method of direct oppositions of the position of Oliver Tambo and a significant number of ideological proposals from the leading world powers of the time under investigation. The article shows that the activities of Oliver Tambo fully comply with the regulations and traditions in the performance of their functions by the foreign affairs ministries. The author argues that the leading role of the ANC and O. Tambo in particular is to ensure the preservation of stability in the socioeconomic development of South Africa with the transit of power in the 1990s and the preservation of the pace of development of South Africa in the 2000s. The work examines the period from the appointment of O. Tambo to the post of Secretary General of the ANC to his death. It is noted that, in addition to the revealed features of O. Tambo’s activities for South Africa for the general theory of international relations, the above facts showed how to build cooperation with non-institutional actors in world politics.

scholarly journals Brazil and the BRICS: The Trap of Short Time

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 404-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Antonio Vieira ◽  
Helton Ricardo Ouriques
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Economic Role ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
The Government ◽  
Short Time ◽  
The Relationship

In this paper we examine the BRICS by focusing on one of its member states: Brazil. More specifically, we focus on the relationship between Brazilian foreign policy under President Lula (2003-2010), U.S. hegemonic decline, and the commodity boom that provided economic resources to sustain Brazil’s position in world politics. With the world financial crisis of 2008, Lula’s belle époque came to an end. Without the abundant resources of commodity exports, Lula’s successor, Dilma Rousseff, tried unsuccessfully to combat the economic slowdown by further strengthening the economic role of the state. With this expansionist economic policy, she was elected for a second term in office, but immediately embraced the previous orthodox economic policies, what coupled with lack of support from the Congress, threw the government into crisis. As a result, not only has the political economy of Brazil re-aligned with the interests of financial capital, but also its foreign policy has returned to its historical alignment with the United States. Our contention is that the BRICS will soon be of no relevance to Brazil.

Supply to Deny: The Benefits of Nuclear Assistance for Nuclear Nonproliferation

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 282-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Davis Gibbons
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
Nuclear Explosion ◽  
Nuclear Proliferation ◽  
Nuclear Nonproliferation ◽  
Nuclear Technology ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
Nuclear Assistance

Abstract Recent scholarship on nuclear proliferation finds that many forms of nuclear assistance increase the odds that recipient states pursue nuclear weapons programs. While these studies may help us understand select cases of proliferation, they overshadow the role of nuclear supply in bolstering global nonproliferation efforts. After the risks of nuclear assistance became well-known following India's nuclear explosion in 1974, most major suppliers conditioned their assistance on recipients joining nonproliferation agreements. Case studies of states’ decision-making regarding these agreements illustrate how the provision of nuclear technology has been an effective tool in persuading states to join such agreements, the most important of which is the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). By joining the NPT, states strengthen the global nonproliferation regime and increase the costs of any potential future decision to proliferate. The offer of nuclear assistance has done far more to bolster global nuclear nonproliferation efforts than recent research suggests.

Nuclear Ambiguity and International Status

2019 ◽  
pp. 126-150
Author(s):  
Rohan Mukherjee
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
Nuclear Proliferation ◽  
Policy Goal ◽  
Special Position ◽  
Best Response ◽  
The Status ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
International Status

India’s abstinence from nuclear weapons through the 1960s continues to puzzle political scientists who study the causes of nuclear proliferation and historians who study India’s specific path to nuclear weapons. This chapter argues that India’s nuclear interregnum of the 1960s is best explained by understanding the status benefits that nuclear ambiguity as a component of a non-aligned foreign policy bestowed upon India. India’s best response to an external nuclear threat and internal domestic pressure to build the bomb was not to actually go nuclear but rather to publicly keep the option open while simultaneously pushing for disarmament as a serious foreign policy goal. This strategy gave India a special position in the international community as a scientifically advanced and potentially powerful yet essentially peaceful nation. Nowhere was this clearer than in India’s contribution to debates in the Eighteen Nation Committee on Disarmament (ENCD) convened by the United Nations between 1962 and 1969.

2. American exceptionalism

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Deudney ◽  
Jeffrey Meiser
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
American Foreign Policy ◽  
American Exceptionalism ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Politics ◽  
American Identity ◽  
American Military ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
Identity Formations

This chapter examines how America can be described as different and exceptional. The belief in American exceptionalism is based upon a number of core realities, including American military primacy, economic dynamism, and political diversity. Understanding understanding American exceptionalism is essential for understanding not only U.S. foreign policy but also major aspects of contemporary world politics. The chapter first considers the meaning of exceptionalism, the critics of American exceptionalism, and the roots of American success. It then discusses the liberalism that makes the United States exceptional, along with peculiar American identity formations of ethnicity, religion, and ‘race’. It also explores the role of American exceptionality across the five major epochs of American foreign policy, from the nation’s founding to the present. It concludes by reflecting on the significance of the election of Barack Obama as president in 2008 to the story of American exceptionalism, difference, and peculiar Americanism.

3. International history 1900–99

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Len Scott
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Total War ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
East West

This chapter focuses on some of the principal developments in world politics from 1900 to 1999: the development of total war, the advent of nuclear weapons, the onset of cold war, and the end of European imperialism. It shows how the confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union became the key dynamic in world affairs, replacing the dominance of — and conflict among — European states in the first half of the twentieth century. It also examines the ways that the cold war promoted or prevented global conflict, how decolonization became entangled with East–West conflicts, and how dangerous the nuclear confrontation between East and West was. Finally, the chapter considers the role of nuclear weapons in specific phases of the cold war, notably in détente, and then with the deterioration of Soviet–American relations in the 1980s.

Why and how should we go for a multicausal analysis in the study of foreign policy? (Meta-)theoretical rationales and methodological rules

2011 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 763-783 ◽  
Author(s):  
YONG-SOO EUN
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Deductive Reasoning ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Secure Base ◽  
Adequate Explanation ◽  
Multiple Causation ◽  
Why Questions ◽  
Progressive Accumulation

AbstractThis article argues that International Relations (IR) researchers concerned with why-questions about the state's external behaviour ought to employ a multicausal approach attentive to the interrelated relationship between external structures and internal agents, presenting the (meta-)theoretical rationales underlying its argument. Here the author suggests ‘a rich/bold ontology’ regarding foreign policy behaviour. Then the article elaborates on detailed and explicit guidelines on how to traverse the bridge that connects the insights of that rich ontology to the empirical research necessary to make claims about the real world of any one moment. In a related vein, the article claims that a multicausal approach should be established using what the author calls ‘loose-knit deductive reasoning’ through which epistemological and methodological openness can be preserved in a manageable way. More importantly, this article discusses the role of theory for IR scholarship and the standards for judging theoretical contributions and progress in the field of IR. Ultimately, the author argues that a complex and flexible approach – both as a useful mode of explanation and as a progressive model of theory construction – can make important contributions to a better understanding of foreign policy and world politics, not only because it enables researchers to become keenly sensitive to the complex reality underlying a nation's foreign policy and to the interrelated relationship between structures and agents in international relations, but also because it can serve to provide a secure base for the progressive accumulation of the evidence closely associated with multiple causation on which any adequate explanation about complex foreign policy behaviour must surely be founded and without which general theory cannot really flourish.

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