North Korea and Iran's Nuclear Programs as Instability Factors in the New System of International Relations
Abstract
In one of the great examples of the re-convergence of thinking on security issues following the end of the Cold War, it is now the widely held belief of the United Nations Security Council, NATO, the European Union (EU), the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and others that the two leading security problems of our era are terrorism and proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). In this study, the author takes a critical look at the most challenging proliferators of our time: North Korea and Iran. Her detailed and carefully documented study goes well beyond the current rhetoric of politics and looks closely at historical developments, geopolitical factors, the scientific parameters of such development, and the potential consequences of the acquisition of weapons by these two countries. Of critical importance for the present and the future is the role of international organizations from the UN Security Council to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in addressing these concerns on behalf of the international community. While these two independent cases of proliferation she examines are still unresolved, she clearly lays out the risks for the UN and the IAEA in facing future challenges, based on the eventual outcome of the two cases examined here. She, likewise, looks at the security implications of the emergence of North Korea and Iran as nuclear weapons states for neighbors, such as China and the EU, and of particular importance for Russia and the United States, as the leading nuclear powers. For all states, she reviews attempts to resolve the proliferation challenges from Iran and North Korea and examines the reasons why the desired results have not yet been achieved. Finally, her careful study and analysis places proliferation in its new and proper context for a world that is no longer bipolar. The challenge of proliferation remains and the outcome of these two cases remains unknown as this study goes to press.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 2007
- Accession Number
- ADA479904
Entities
People
- Natalia P. Romashkina
Organizations
- George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies