Economic Competition and Nuclear Cooperation

Abstract

The number of bilateral nuclear cooperation agreements surged during the “nuclear renaissance” of the past decade. This proliferation is only partially explained by the prevailing approaches that focus on strategic imperatives. To supplement these explanations, this study draws on neoliberal models of economic competition to posit that bilateral agreement negotiations also exhibit conditions of “uncoordinated interdependence” and maneuvering to gain market share. Case evidence suggests the contours of supplier state bids for civilian assistance are determined at least as much by considerations about economic competition as they are by positive strategic goals. In addition, this study identifies several cases of cooperation where there appears to be little or no strategic motive for export agreements. The study concludes that patterns of economic competition and the influence of peers in defined competitive spaces alter material payoffs and impact policies. It also identifies a surprising role for principled restraint in dampening strategic and economic competition in some dyads.

KEYWORDS:

• Nuclear energy
• Vietnam
• Jordan
• nuclear cooperation
• Japan
• Russia

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author received helpful commentary on development of this manuscript from Matthew Fuhrmann, Jonathan Pearl, Juliet Kaarbo, Jim Wirtz, Jim Keeley, John Baylis, Imad El-Anis, and Jeffrey Knopf. Feedback from anonymous reviewers for the Nonproliferation Review also helped refine several critical arguments. Some research for this article was completed while the author served as a visiting scholar in the Institute for Security and Conflict Studies at the Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University, and thanks go to director Charles Glaser and his colleagues for their advice and support. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Monterey Strategy Seminar at the Naval Postgraduate School, in Monterey, California, in the fall of 2011.

Notes

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