In Understanding and Explaining the Iranian Nuclear 'Crisis': Theoretical Approaches, Halit M.E. Tagma and Paul E. Lenze, Jr. analyze the 'crisis' surrounding Iran's nuclear program through a variety of theoretical approaches, including realism, world-systems theory, liberal institutionalism, domestic politics, and multi-level games. Through these theories, Tagma and Lenze use established academic perspectives to create a more objective understanding and explanation of the debates and issues. Introducing the concept of eclectic pluralism to the study of international relations, Understanding and Explaining the Iranian Nuclear 'Crisis' presents theoretical approaches side by side to explore a complex and evolving international dispute.

The Nuclear Scholars Initiative is a signature program ran by the Project on Nuclear Issues (PONI)-to engage emerging nuclear experts in thoughtful and informed debate over how to best address the nuclear community's most pressing problems. The papers included in this volume comprise research from participants in the 2019 Nuclear Scholars Initiative. These papers explore a variety of topics such as the future of arms-control treaties, the role of artificial intelligence and cyber resilience in nuclear security, and the role of regional dynamics in nuclear security.

This book explores the possibilities for the smaller nations of Europe to make positive contributions to the verification of reductions in conventional forces and arms, a chemical weapons convention and a comprehensive nuclear test ban. .

Are NATO's mutual security commitments strong enough today to deter all adversaries? Is the nuclear umbrella as credible as it was during the Cold War? Backed by the full range of US and allied military capabilities, NATO's mutual defense treaty has been enormously successful, but today's commitments are strained by military budget cuts and antinuclear sentiment. The United States has also shifted its focus away from European security during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and more recently with the Asia rebalance. Will a resurgent Russia change this? The Future of Extended Deterrence brings together experts and scholars from the policy and academic worlds to provide a theoretically rich and detailed analysis of post--Cold War nuclear weapons policy, nuclear deterrence, alliance commitments, nonproliferation, and missile defense in NATO but with implications far beyond. The contributors analyze not only American policy and ideas but also the ways NATO members interpret their own continued political and strategic role in the alliance. In-depth and multifaceted, The Future of Extended Deterrence is an essential resource for policy practitioners and scholars of nuclear deterrence, arms control, missile defense, and the NATO alliance.

This book presents a rounded critique of the conventional wisdom about the legality of nuclear weapons by experts in international and constitutional law. Part I addresses the status of nuclear weapons under international law. Scholars on one side of the question draw upon treaties and international custom to argue that most uses of nuclear weapons are illegal and that even mere possession of such weaponry is legally unjustifiable. Others argue that law cannot be imposed on the nuclear weapons states without their consent and that nuclear weapons provide deterrence that binds the superpowers in a peaceful balance of power. Part I concludes with a comprehensive bibliography on nuclear weapons and international law. Part II, the section that focuses on nuclear weapons and American constitutional law, offers widely divergent approaches and conclusions. Although there is no explicit prohibition of such weapons in the United States Constitution, several contributors suggest that the advent of nuclear weapons has so changed the milieu in which constitutional institutions operate that many accepted conclusions must be reexamined. Part III explores the effects of nuclear weapons on the environment and the medical consequences of nuclear war.

Is the world ready for nuclear Jihad?

"Showdown with Nuclear Iran "is a gripping and detailed expose of Iran's relentless pursuit of atomic weapons and its apocalyptic goal of wiping Israel off the face of the earth. Michael D. Evans, who has been working in the Middle East for the last three decades, cuts through the official lies an ddeceptions of the Iranian government and reveals in terrifying detail:

• how close the radical Islamic republic is to fulfilling its nuclear ambitions
• how Iran's president believes he has a divine mission to destroy Israel and cripple the United States in a nuclear holocaust
• and what America must do to avert this global disaster

With the Middle East poised at the brink, "Showdown with Nuclear Iran "provides much-needed perspective on the current crisis and the dire threat that a nuclear Iran poses to the existence of Israel and global stability.

"The most detailed account of the Iranian regime's determination, policy, and plan to acquire military nuclear capabilities. Mike Evans delves into the roots of the Iranian revolution and explores Iranian history to better understand a major challenge to the western world. he compellingly analyzes policy options for confronting this threat." ―Lt. Gen. Moshe Ya'Alon, red., former Chief of Staff, Israeli Defense Force

Fifty years into the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) regime, the risks of nuclear war, terrorism, and the threat of further proliferation remain. A lack of significant progress towards disarmament will cast doubt upon the viability of the NPT. By recognizing that certain fissile materials are essential to every nuclear weapon and that controlling their usage provides the foundation for international efforts to limit their spread, this book presents a comprehensive framework for nuclear disarmament. Based upon phased reductions, Shea provides a mechanism for the disposal of weapon-origin fissile material and controls on peaceful nuclear activities and non-explosive military uses. He explores the technological means for monitoring and verification, the legal arrangements required to provide an enduring foundation, and a financial structure which will enable progress. This book will be invaluable to professional organizations, arms control NGOs, government officials, scientists, and politicians. It will also appeal to academics and postgraduate researchers working on security studies, disarmament diplomacy and the politics and science of verification.

Weapons proliferation is one of the most pressing global concerns following the end of the Cold War. Despite the absence of an overarching superpower conflict, armaments and related technologies have continued to spread throughout the international system. This has been particularly true in areas like East Asia and the Middle East, where the traditional two party arms races are not readily apparent. This text addresses these concerns and shortcomings using data on fourteen specific military technological innovations that diffused throughout the international system from 1960 to 1997.

Rising concern over the increasing threat of nuclear war impelled the 2017 United Nations (UN) negotiations and adoption by 122 UN member states of a Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The Treaty seeks to ban nuclear weapons globally in the same way chemical and biological weapons have already been prohibited. This book provides the first in-depth comprehensive analysis of the implications and possibilities of the new treaty, drawing on the insights of international relations, international laws, and disarmament experts and specialists from Europe, America, the Asia-Pacific, and the UN. In a context where existing nuclear weapon states have so far declined to be party to the new treaty, the book examines not only its emergence and significance but also the prospects and possibilities for its implementation, the challenges associated with verifying the new agreement, the role of both civil society and governments, and the treaty's wider implications in addressing regional and global nuclear threats. This book was originally published as a special issue of Global Change, Peace & Security but additionally includes the special section articles on the treaty in the Journal for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament.

In the Treaty of Versailles and the SALT II Treaty, years of painstaking diplomatic effort were lost when the United States Senate refused to provide its consent to ratification. This book provides a comparative assessment of executive-congressional relations and the arms control treaty ratification process. A team of historians, political scientists and policy analysts looks at seven case studies, from Versailles to the INF Treaty, to explore the myriad ways to win and lose treaty ratification battles. This book constitutes a marriage of scholarship and public policy. Michael Krepon is the editor of "Commercial Observation Satellites and International Security". Dan Caldwell has also written "The Dynamics of Domestic Politics and Arms Control: The SALT II Treaty Ratification Debate".

This book suggests a new bargain between the NPT nuclear weapon states and the non-NPT nuclear weapons possessor states, mainly India and Pakistan, through a regional arrangement to help move towards universalization of the nuclear nonproliferation regime. The author analyses nuclear proliferation drivers to understand why states acquire and justify possession of nuclear weapons even though most nuclear weapon states no longer are faced with an existential threat to their national security. This study also identifies various challenges being faced by the NPT based nuclear nonproliferation regime, which if left unaddressed, could unravel the nonproliferation regime. It also offers the history of confidence building measures between India and Pakistan, which could be a useful reference for negotiating a Regional Nonproliferation Regime (RNR) in the future.

Water resources and related issues are of great significance in 21st century politics. In Africa, for example, hydropolitics affect politics and policymaking at the local, national, and international levels. To investigate water politics, this unique work focuses on the issue transboundary water governance in Southern and Eastern Africa. Based on extensive field research, it offers a comparative study of the Orange Senqu and Nile basins in Africa, arguing that both causal and behavioral factors (such as localization and trust building) drive the multi-leveled development of cooperative management norms and foster the creation of regional communities of interest. The book combines theory, analysis, and fieldwork within the framework of Constructivism as well as a wide range of examples to identify and analyze the nature of norms in hydropolitics. By doing so, it will help shape the debate on how water conflict and cooperative governance should evolve and will interest anyone studying African politics, hydropolitics, and issues of development.

First published in 1979. The report of the Labour Party Defence Study Group, which met from early 1975 to mid-1977, represents a unique attempt to portray defence policy in the context of disarmament and the need to restructure and control the institutions of defence - in particular the defence industry. The report presented the fullest study made by any British political party concerning the implications and consequences of its stated defence policy, and embodied an examination of defence from the perspective of approaches of disarmament. At the same time, the search for a new policy in international relations was harmonised with the further development of a new industrial strategy, concentrating upon the potential for converting part of military industry to civil work. This work which presents a distinctive intervention in the general debate concerning defence policy, industrial and technological planning, economic priorities and public policy, will be of considerable relevance to both specialists in each of these fields as well as the general reader.

As the nuclear arms race exploded in the 1980s, a group of U.S. religious pacifists used radical nonviolence to intervene. Armed with hammers, they broke into military facilities to pound on missiles and pour blood on bombers, enacting the prophet Isaiah's vision: 'Nations shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.' Calling themselves the Plowshares movement, these controversial activists received long prison sentences; nonetheless, their movement grew and expanded to Europe and Australia. In this book, Sharon Erickson Nepstad documents the emergence and international diffusion of this unique form of high-risk collective action. Drawing on interviews, original survey research, and archival data, Nepstad explains why some Plowshares groups have persisted over time while others have struggled or collapsed. Comparing the U.S. movement with less successful Plowshares groups overseas, Nepstad reveals how decisions about leadership, organization, retention, and cultural adaptations influence movements' long-term trajectories.

Much has been written on WMD terrorism, but few books present a systems approach to this problem. In this book, we present an integrated view of WMD terrorism. The threat section reviews several scenarios that a terrorist might use and a very comprehensive list of the possible biological organisms and compounds that can be used as biological, mid-spectrum, and chemical threats. In the science and technology section, the technical aspects of a successful defense against WMD agents are presented. Arguments are presented for the control of the release of scientific information to bolster CB defense. Approaches to biological agent detection and a system for ranking detection technologies are discussed next. The generic approach to biological screening and detection is then illustrated with some applications of generic detectors to water, food, and aerosol. The future of biological detection and identification is also presented, along with a call to perhaps change the paradigms that we are using. The last section of the book deals with response system planning. An example of regional cooperation is presented. Risk-based management is discussed and a practical example of this approach to emergency planning is presented. Arguments for an epidemiological reporting system are presented, while the last chapter discusses means to integrate the various components of a response system via a software tool.

Japan has been moving toward a more independent security policy since the early 2010s, duplicating the military assets of the United States and reorganizing the Self-Defense Forces. In Japan's Awakening, Lionel P. Fatton and Oreste Foppiani argue that the country faces an entrapment-abandonment dilemma in which any attempt to prevent abandonment by the United States vis-a-vis China negatively affects its national security by heightening the risk of entrapment in the Korean Peninsula, and vice versa. A move toward autonomy is the only way for Japan to solve this dilemma. The subject is at variance with both the insistence on the constraining effect of domestic norms on Japan's security policy and the assumption of everlasting reliance on the United States for protection.

This comprehensive analysis documents the military forces in each Middle Eastern country at the end of the Cold War. Cordesman discusses security developments and provides a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the strength and effectiveness of every army, navy, air force, and air defence force in the region. He further assesses post-Cold War modernization and expansions plans and each country's internal security situations, the role the military plays in its government and internal tensions and civil wars. Special attention is paid to Iran and Iraq and the author examines the military changes in both countries as responses to the Iran-Iraq and the First Gulf War. After the Storm is unique in combining the evaluation of conventional forces with assessments of developments in biological, chemical and nuclear weapons and provides a coherent picture of the state of the military in the Middle East in the early 1990s. Summary tables and charts present keys statistics for the region, formatted to allow quick country by country comparisons.

From the very start, at the age of twenty-one, Herbert F. York was swept into the century's most daring and dangerous technical achievement, the making of the atomic bomb. Throughout his fifty-year career as scientist and statesman, York has been there - at the center of this formidable and fractious era. His is not a dispassionate scholar's treatise, nor is it a reporter's story clipped from the files. Instead, this is a charged, eye-witness documentary, told in the first person by a principal actor. York takes us backstage to witness key events of our time: to the Manhattan Project for the birth of the atomic bomb; to Lawrence Livermore where the H-bomb was built; to Washington to eavesdrop on how post-war history was being forged; and to Geneva where he tried to stem the madness. Along the way, you'll meet some of our greatest heros and villains - Lawrence, Oppenheimer, Weisskopf, Teller, General Groves, President Eisenhower, and a cast of hundreds - friends, colleagues, enemies, who for more than half a century, held the fate of the world in their hands.

Shaping U.S. Military Forces for the Asia-Pacific examines how U.S. Joint Forces should be used to face the threat of a rising China at a time when future crises and even wars are likely to be defined by relatively limited political stakes alongside competing nationalist identities. Today s nascent multipolar system shows commonalities with an earlier, Euro-centric international system era. Thus the book begins by looking back at previous ages of major power competition and cooperation to draw lessons for the present global system. It then analyzes the geopolitical context behind issues relating to cooperation, competition, and conflict in the contemporary Asia-Pacific. It also describes the nature of successful deterrents to threats, including warnings and attempts to bargain with the adversary to keep conflict relatively limited in scope. Lastly, it examines the crucial role of diplomatic reassurance during crisis bargaining to prevent worst-case scenario thinking by the adversary, offer compromise settlements, and de-escalate in the context of ongoing operational, or threatened, use of military force. Applying both military theories from thinkers such as von Clausewitz and Jomini and past lessons to current realities help to provide concrete answers to what it means to procure, equip, and employ U.S. military forces in the Asia-Pacific in the 21st century. This allows for recommendations about USAF and US Navy roles, missions, and performance characteristics i.e., how to best link air and sea power to each other and to strategic political needs during periods of tension with rising powers such as China."

The story of U. S. nuclear testing between 1945 and 1963 is a vivid and exciting one, but also one of profound importance. It is a story of trailblazing scientific progress, weapons of mass destruction, superpower rivalry, accidents, radiological contamination, politics, and diplomacy. The testing of weapons that defined the course and consequences of the Cold War was itself a crucial dimension to the narrative of that conflict. Further, the central question of why conduct nuclear tests was debated among politicians, generals, civilians, and scientists. The book focuses on this question and on the United States as it was the first nation to test and use nuclear weapons. The U.S. also has remained ahead of all other powers in achieving significant testing milestones and has conducted more nuclear tests than any other nuclear power. It first argues that nuclear weapons testing was for the most part a rational state act that provided essential information about nuclear weapons and their use. This information, in turn, illuminated other important issues, such as the details of test cessation agreements.Second, crucial to the history of nuclear testing as a rational state act was the idea of its normalization, a process that began under Truman. The norm of nuclear testing as an acceptable state action however was undermined by Eisenhower's moratorium of 1958-1961. The ensuing political dilemma surrounding the tests led under Kennedy found a resolution only through the Limited Test Ban Treaty. Lastly, the book argues that part of the reason why Washington accepted the Limited Test Ban Treaty in 1963 was because it recognized that it had accomplished all that could realistically be expected from atmospheric weapons testing. Overall, it was a victory for those who argued in favor of national security over diplomatic and environmental costs that normalized nuclear weapons tests. Today, as states continue to pursue nuclear weaponry, nuclear testing remains an important political issue in the 21st century, making the study of its history vital.

Heinz Gaertner argues in this Occasional Paper, one area of arms control in which the NNA and smaller European states can make a significant contribution is verification. This study explores the possibilities for the smaller nations of Europe to make positive contributions to the verification of reductions in conventional forces and arms, a chemica

This dictionary provides a comprehensive and ready guide to the key concepts, issues, persons, and technologies related to the nuclear programmes of India and Pakistan and other South Asian states. This will serve as a useful reference especially as the nuclear issue continues to be an important domestic and international policy concern.

Despite clear legal rules and political commitments, no significant progress has been made in nuclear disarmament for two decades. Moreover, not even the use of these weapons has been banned to date. New ideas and strategies are therefore necessary. The author explores an alternative approach to arms control focusing on the human dimension rather than on States' security: "humanization" of arms control! The book explores the preparatory work on arms control treaties and in particular the role of civil society. It analyzes the positive experiences of the movements against chemical weapons, anti-personnel mines, and cluster munitions, as well as the recent conclusion of the Arms Trade Treaty. The author examines the question of whether civil society will be able to replicate the success strategies that have been used, in particular, in the field of anti-personnel mines (Ottawa Convention) and cluster munitions (Oslo Convention) in the nuclear weapons field. Is there any reason why the most destructive weapons should not be outlawed by a legally binding instrument? The book also explains the effects of weapons, especially nuclear weapons, on human beings, the environment, and global development, thereby focusing on vulnerable groups, such as indigenous peoples, women, and children. It takes a broad approach to human rights, including economic, social, and cultural rights. The author concludes that the use of nuclear weapons is illegal under international humanitarian and human rights law and, moreover, constitutes international crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. In his general conclusions, the author makes concrete proposals for the progress toward a world without nuclear weapons.

The Iranian nuclear crisis is a proxy arena for competing visions about the functioning of international relations. This book is the first to provide comprehensive and comparative analyses to conceptualise the interaction between 'hegemonic structures' and those actors resisting them using the Iranian nuclear case as an illustration. It analyses the foreign policies of China, Russia and Turkey towards the Iranian nuclear programme and thereby answers the question to what extent these policies are indicative of a security culture that resists hegemony. Based on 70 elite interviews with experts and decision-makers closely involved with the Iranian nuclear file, it analyses resistance to hegemony across its ideational, material and institutional framework conditions. The cases examined show how 'compliance' on the part of China, Russia and Turkey with parts of US approaches to the Iranian nuclear conflict has been selective, and how US policy preferences in the Iran dossier have been resisted on other occasions. As such, the Iran nuclear case serves as an illustration to shed light on the contemporaneous interaction of the forces of consent and coercion in international politics. This book will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners in International Relations, Security Studies and Foreign Policy Analysis.

Drawing on data from three different insurgent groups within the Cambodian conflict, the book shows how the social backgrounds of combatants and commanders cause them to pursue different strategies during a decade-long transition into various postconflict settings, thereby creating different "pathways to peace." By highlighting different vertical and horizontal ranks within the insurgent groups and the role of belligerents' resources and networks, this qualitative study tackles an imbalance in the current research on Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR), which tends to focus on top-down planning and the technicalities of reintegration programs. It helps explain why conflict dynamics and path-dependencies differ among various social groups within the field of insurgency. By analyzing the social position, life courses and postconflict trajectories of various groups within the insurgency, the book emphasizes the diversity of transitions to peace and "brings the social back in." The study is grounded in in-depth fieldwork conducted in Cambodia and its diaspora, including 168 firsthand interviews with ex-combatants from groups as diverse as Buddhist monks and Christian converts, intellectuals, powerful warlords, civil servants, and female communist soldiers. Using these details, the book not only builds a theory of the social structure and internal logic of armed groups, but also emphasizes the crucial importance of fighters' own narratives about their roles in society. Therefore, in addition to advancing a sociological perspective on post-conflict transitions, the study also provides the most detailed treatment to date of the social fields of the insurgents who fought in the civil war that followed the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979. These social fields continue to have a profound influence on Cambodian politics, even today.