In view of the topic's likely future importance, UNIDIR has accordingly chosen to produce the present bibliographical survey & source list. It will provide an access route for all interested parties, be they from the research or diplomatic communities, into a range of political sources on issues related to fissile material.

First Published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Nuclear disarmament is firmly back on the international agenda. But almost all current thinking on the subject is focused on the process of reducing the number of weapons from thousands to hundreds. This rigorous analysis examines the challenges that exist to abolishing nuclear weapons completely, and suggests what can be done now to start overcoming them. The paper argues that the difficulties of 'getting to zero' must not preclude many steps being taken in that direction. It thus begins by examining steps that nuclear-armed states could take in cooperation with others to move towards a world in which the task of prohibiting nuclear weapons could be realistically envisaged. The remainder of the paper focuses on the more distant prospect of prohibiting nuclear weapons, beginning with the challenge of verifying the transition from low numbers to zero. It moves on to examine how the civilian nuclear industry could be managed in a nuclear-weapons-free world so as to prevent rearmament. The paper then considers what political-security conditions would be required to make a nuclear-weapons ban enforceable and explores how enforcement might work in practice. Finally, it addresses the latent capability to produce nuclear weapons that would inevitably exist after abolition, and asks whether this is a barrier to disarmament, or whether it can be managed to meet the security needs of a world newly free of the bomb.

"This paper is particularly timely, as it addresses emerging issues based in the changing forms and norms of post-Cold War arms control. These issues confront United States strategic planners and the national security policy community today, and they promise to have increasing impact into the future. As traditional arms control-with its focus most centrally on limiting and then reducing fielded U.S. and Soviet/Russian strategic systems-evolves into multilateral and multidimensional efforts to stem the now-central threat of proliferation, the whole landscape of arms control changes. The players, the multiple agendas, the role of international organizations in addition to the traditional focus on states all increase the complexity of the game and the difficulties in forging successful and verifiable international agreement at the very time when the problems of proliferation rise to the top of national security calculations. Guy Roberts explains this complexity and its effects on arms control-placing process over product and forcing those serious about controlling fissile materials to go in search of varied avenues and approaches-to educate us all on the emerging "rules of the game."--INSS website.

This new Handbook is a comprehensive examination of the rich and complex issues of nuclear proliferation in the early 21st century. The future of the decades-long effort to prevent the further spread of weapons of mass destruction is at a crossroads today. If international nonproliferation efforts are to be successful, an integrated, multi-tiered response will almost certainly be necessary. A serious, thorough, and clear-eyed examination of the range of threats, challenges, and opportunities facing the international community is a necessary first step. This Handbook, which presents the most up-to-date analysis and policy recommendations on these critical issues by recognized, leading scholars in the field, intends to provide such an examination. The volume is divided into three major parts: Part I presents detailed threat assessments of proliferation risks across the globe, including specific regions and countries. Part II explains the various tools developed by the international community to address these proliferation threats. Part III addresses the proliferation risks and political challenges arising from nuclear energy production, including potential proliferation by aspiring states and nonstate groups. This Handbook will be of great interest to students and practitioners of nuclear proliferation, arms control, global governance, diplomacy, and global security and IR general.

This paper describes the evolution of the Non-Proliferation Regime through its major phases and the dynamics of the transformation which marked these phases, through a contextualisation of the security or geo-strategic environment of each phase. This paper has also made a conceptual study of the regime and the philosophical framework that shape the creation of the regime and its major shifts and makes an assessment of the concept of the non-proliferation regime through the Regime Theory framework and attempts to explain the paradigm that shaped the regime’s initial principles and goes on to explain the evolution in terms of the paradigmatic shifts. The attempt is to analyse the Indian approach to the regime through its response to the major structures and norms formulated by the regime during its evolution. It explains India’s policy on the regime’s fundamental tools on three key areas: non-proliferation, disarmament and peaceful uses of nuclear energy. The analysis being done through these categories will look at India’s policy on or approaches towards key instruments like the NPT, nuclear test ban, ending fissile materials production, safeguards, export controls, etc. Lastly the paper looks into the dynamics of the post-1998 and post nuclear-deal phase when India is supposed to be attempting to integrate with the regime and its principles. How is India attempting to do this? What are the key challenges and obstacles towards this objective? What are the means for greater Indian integration with the regime? My idea is to actually bring out the new diplomacy that India has, how the global politics is viewing India’s new status after the Indo-US nuclear treaty, and lastly to bring out the changing dynamics in the nuclear diplomacy. India has to play a critical role in tackling these challenges. India has to play the role of a responsible player in minimising proliferation dangers by actively engaging in the non-proliferation regime.

For some observers, nuclear arms control is either a relic of the cold war, or a utopian dream about a denuclearized planet decades in the future. But, as Brookings scholars Steven Pifer and Michael O'Hanlon argue in The Opportunity, arms control can address some key security challenges facing Washington today and enhance both American and global security. Pifer and O'Hanlon make a compelling case for further arms control measures—to reduce the nuclear threat to the United States and its allies, to strengthen strategic stability, to promote greater transparency regarding secretive nuclear arsenals, to create the possibility for significant defense budget savings, to bolster American credibility in the fight to curb nuclear proliferation, and to build a stronger and more sustainable U.S.-Russia relationship. President Obama gave priority to nuclear arms control early in his first term and, by all accounts, would like to be transformational on these questions. Can there be another major U.S.-Russia arms treaty? Can the tactical and surplus strategic nuclear warheads that have so far escaped controls be brought into such a framework? Can a modus vivendi be reached between the two countries on missile defense? And what of multilateral accords on nuclear testing and production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons? Pifer and O'Hanlon concisely frame the issues, the background, and the choices facing the president; provide practical policy recommendations, and put it all in clear and readable prose that will be easily understood by the layman.