Nuclear authority
Subtitle: the IAEA and the absolute weapon
By: Robert L. Brown
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
Published: 2015
Language: eng
Number of pages: 247
ISBN-13: 9781626161825; 9781626161832
Subjects: Nuclear weapons; Safety measures; International Atomic Energy Agency; Nuclear industry; Nuclear nonproliferation; Security measures
Description: Robert L. Brown has written both a history of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and an analysis of how it has transformed from a weak agent of multilateral cooperation into a strong international nuclear authority over the past two decades. Today, it is one of the most powerful international organizations of any kind, with the ability to inspect and judge member states' nuclear programs and to issue rules and commands regarding nuclear issues. The IAEA also plays an important role in counterproliferation enforcement. Brown argues that the IAEA has been able to acquire power over states on nuclear issues because states have realized that they need, for both political and technological reasons, the IAEA to supply nuclear policy cooperation and to be an agent for nuclear safety and security. The IAEA is in the news on an almost weekly basis, and this book will provide the most in depth and up-to-date overview of the organization. The book will also explain the puzzle of why states would collectively create an agent to help them cooperate, only to see that agent acquire power over them.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 203-233) and index.
Table of contents: title: Theory of authority --; title: The birth of the IAEA, 1945/1961 --; title: The adolescence of the agency, 1962/1985 --; title: The IAEA challenged, 1986/1998 --; title: Nuclear authority, 1998-2013.