The Role Of The Eu In The Non Proliferation Of Nuclear Weapons

Much of the literature on the emerging role of the EU as a non-proliferation actor has only a minimal engagement with theory. This collection aims to rectify this by placing the role of the EU in the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons within an analytical framework inspired by emerging literature on the performance of international organisations.

Is the appearance of new nuclear weapon states inevitable? Who are the sponsors and apologists of nuclear weapons, and why are others in favour of renouncing them? What are the implications for international security of the increasingly wide use of nuclear energy? How can nuclear threats be defused? Originally published in 1985, SIPRI's study suggests some answers to these questions. The book examines the situation in a number of countries of key importance for non-proliferation: the two nuclear-weapon states which have declined to join the 1968 Non-Proliferation Treaty (China and France); a group of nuclear ‘threshold’ states also remaining outside the Treaty (Argentina, Brazil, India, Israel, Pakistan, South Africa and Spain); and a group of states, both developed and developing, which for various reasons have joined the Treaty (Canada, Egypt, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland and Taiwan). The focus of the book is on motivations for and against nuclear proliferation. An analysis of these motivations leads the editor to make detailed recommendations aimed at halting the spread of nuclear weapons. Appendices include a list of nuclear facilities in the countries studied, specifying the degree of their coverage by international controls, and other relevant documentation.

The recent controversy over Iran's nuclear programme represents an early and important test for a distinctively European approach to addressing concerns about suspected programmes for the development of weapons of mass destruction. Against this background, the report brings together European and Iranian perspectives on a range of security- and proliferation-related issues that have a bearing on diplomatic efforts to resolve the controversy. The contributors describe the discussions under way between Europe, Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency aimed at clarifying the scope and nature of Iran's nuclear activities. They examine the development of the European Union's strategy to combat the spread of WMD; Iran's evolving security and defence structures and policies, including Iranian thinking about deterrence-based defence strategies and the requirements for credibly implementing them; and the internal dynamics of security policy decision making in Iran. The report highlights some of the problems and possibilities inherent in the EU's efforts to implement a more targeted, multifunctional strategy to prevent WMD proliferation.

Why have Europeans been slow to join the struggle against the spread of atomic weapons? Can their commitment to this cause grow stronger? The first comprehensive study of the initiatives for creating an effective European policy, this book examines the history, current structures and processes, constraints, and opportunities of a Western European non-profileration policy. The volume opens with a summary of the problems of formulating a specifically European response to the threat of nuclear proliferation, then presents studies of eight nations which are capable of developing substantial nuclear arsenals, and concludes with a blueprint for an effective European policy on curtailing arms proliferation.

The volume discusses the legal interpretation and implementation of the three pillars of the Treaty of the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, 1968, regarding the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons; the right to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes; and issues relating to nuclear disarmament. It examines the status of international law regarding nuclear capacity, considering competing legal approaches to the development of nuclear technology, non-proliferation, disarmament and regulating nuclear weapons within a contemporary international context.