The vitality of the NPT after 50

ABSTRACT

The most inclusive security treaty in the world, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) turned 50 in 2020. Our special issue takes stock of the NPT’s vitality after these five decades. In this introduction, we emphasize the need to distinguish between the treaty instrument and the larger nuclear nonproliferation regime. Next, we consider a recent development that may represent a serious impending shock which could weaken the NPT: dramatic changes in the treaty’s legal and normative landscape. Then, we assess vitality of the NPT in light of current concerns, arguing that norm contestation can be healthy for international regimes and calls for the death of the NPT are premature. Finally, we review the contributions of our special issue authors, highlighting the significant differences among them, and embedding them in ongoing research on the NPT.

KEYWORDS:

• Nuclear
• nonproliferation
• disarmament
• treaties
• international security
• norms

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 There are other norms related to the NPT situated in the wider nuclear nonproliferation regime, including the no-explosive testing norm, norms of political restraint; see Müller and Wunderlich (2020); Tannenwald (2018b). See Table 1.

2 The treaty text can be found at https://undocs.org/A/CONF.229/2017/8.

3 Interestingly, some see the dichotomy created by the NPT between nuclear haves and have nots as an empowerment and reason why the NPT will endure because it has “created a space for the disempowered to expand their influence from below” (Hamidi, 2020, p. 545). Jasper (2016) also regards the hierarchy-based order as a cause for the order's stability.

4 This table is a heuristic to help us visualize the scope of the NPR, rather than an argument that this exact typology is the best way to characterize individual elements of the regime. In addition, this table does not account for overlaps between regime elements. For example, norms can be codified in formal treaties, but also come in the form of politically-binding measures such as informal agreements, doctrinal constraints, etc.

5 For each element, we have only included selected components, rather than attempt a comprehensive listing.

Additional information

Funding

This article, and the special issue it introduces, were supported by the International Studies Association (ISA) through a 2020 Research and Workshop Grant.

Notes on contributors

Maria Rost Rublee

Maria Rost Rublee is an Associate Professor of International Relations at Monash University. She is an international relations scholar whose work interrogates the social construction of national security, including nuclear politics, maritime security, and diversity in security studies. Rublee’s research has been supported by the United States Institute of Peace, the Australian Department of Defence, the Canadian Department of National Defence, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Japan Foundation, among others. Her work has been published in numerous international journals, including Survival, Journal of European Public Policy, Contemporary Security Policy, International Studies Review, and Comparative Political Studies. Her book, Nonproliferation Norms: Why States Choose Nuclear Restraint, received the Alexander George Book Award for best book in political psychology, awarded by the International Society for Political Psychology. She is past Chair of the International Security Studies Section of ISA, and received her Ph.D. from George Washington University.

Carmen Wunderlich

Carmen Wunderlich is Assistant Professor at the Chair of International Relations and Development Policy at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, and Associated Researcher at the Peace Research Center Prague. Previously, she was with the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt. Her research focuses on global norm dynamics and practices of norm contestation with a specific focus on issues related to the control of weapons of mass destruction and nuclear disarmament. Her work has been published in Contemporary Security Policy, Daedalus, International Studies Review, Review of International Studies, and The Nonproliferation Review, among others. Together with Harald Müller, she is editor of Norm dynamics in Multilateral Arms Control published with University of Georgia Press. Her most recent book is “Rogue States” as Norm Entrepreneurs: Black Sheep or Sheep in Wolves’ Clothing? published with Springer Press.