| ID | 143305 |
| Title Proper | Power of the NPT |
| Other Title Information | international norms and Ukraine's nuclear disarmament |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Budjeryn, Mariana |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | There is a lingering disagreement among scholars on how the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) affects nonproliferation and disarmament outcomes. Drawing on constructivist scholarship on international norms, this article examines the extent of the NPT's effect in the case of Ukraine's nuclear disarmament. In the wake of the Soviet Union's collapse, Ukraine found itself host to the world's third largest nuclear arsenal. Despite Ukraine's initial commitment to become a non-nuclear state, it proceeded along a difficult path toward NPT accession. Most controversial and directly at odds with the NPT was Ukraine's claim to ownership of its nuclear inheritance as a successor state of the Soviet Union. This article argues that, while much domestic discourse about the fate of these nuclear weapons was embedded in the negotiation of Ukraine's new identity as a sovereign state vis-à-vis Russia and the West, the NPT played an important, structural role by outlining a separate normative space for nuclear weapons and providing the grammar of denuclearization with which Ukraine's decision makers had to grapple. |
| `In' analytical Note | Nonproliferation Review Vol. 22, No.2; Jun 2015: p.203-238 |
| Journal Source | Nonproliferation ReviewVol: 22 No 2 |
| Key Words | Nuclear Nonproliferation ; Ukraine ; International Norms ; Soviet Union ; Treaty On The Non-Proliferation Of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) Disarmament ; Treaty on The Reduction and Limitation Of Strategic Offensive Arms (Start I) |