Nuclear Nonproliferation

Nuclear Nonproliferation

ASSIGNMENT PREMISE
Enforcement of NPT regulations and norms upon signatories and non-signatories has long been a simultaneously problematic and promising endeavor since the regime’s
inception. In response to potential domestic and international (political, military and economic) repercussions of non-adherence to expectations and norms of the NPT
regime, signatories and non-signatories alike typically elect to abide by and promote NPT regulations at home and abroad. Members of both groupings, more often than
not, respectively observe and embrace said regulations and norms; these instances can be qualified as “successes” of the nonproliferation regime. Sometimes, however,
they do not (especially non-signatories); these instances of disregard for the NPT can be qualified as “failures” of the international nonproliferation regime. Recent
successes include Libyan abandonment and Iranian “freezing” of nuclear programs. A key contemporary failure of the NPT nonproliferation regime remains North Korea.
Although they were not the sole causal factors of success, effective enforcement of the NPT regime by way of credible 1) threat of force and 2) implementation of
severe economic and political consequences facilitated positive outcomes in the cases of Libya and Iran. These factors have not been particularly effective in the
failed case of North Korea. The impacts of recent NPT success and failure in the area of nonproliferation among state-actors on continued a) latency of nuclear-
capable states and b) non-nuclear status of terrorist organizations are potentially very extensive, negative and positive. It is, at once, necessarily compelling and
disconcerting to ponder the manner in which these impacts will become manifest in state and terrorist behavior over the next 20-30 years – and whether NPT proponents
can ensure the treaty’s “rise” to the occasion or its opponents will effect abrogation and replace it with another treaty.

ASSIGNMENT GUIDELINES
This examination requires students to complete all three subsequent tasks in an essay of 5-12 pages:
1) compare and contrast the recent cases of nonproliferation success (Libya & Iran) and failure (North Korea) in the
context of effective or ineffective enforcement of the NPT (as explained above) – i.e., why enforcement was
successful/effective in Libyan & Iranian cases and not in North Korean case
2) explain, in your opinion, what are the potential negative and positive impacts of recent NPT success and failure
in the area of nonproliferation among states-actors on continued a) latency of nuclear-capable states and b) non-
nuclear status of terrorist organizations AND how these impacts will become manifest in state and terrorist
behavior the next 20-30 years
3) argue convincingly, and based on commentary in requirements 1 & 2 (listed directly above), as to whether the
optimal course of action to meet future challenges to nonproliferation is to either retain the NPT but
adjust/amend it to manage said challenges OR abrogate the treaty and create a new one in its place.
*Students must choose either a) retention and adjust/amendment OR b) abrogation and replacement DF; they cannot choose
both. Noncommittal/indiscernible preference will lose 20 points.*
ASSIGNED READING & RESEARCH REQUIREMENTS

1) Students are required to make frequent, meaningful references to a majority of assigned readings from Weeks 10-12 throughout the essay. References to Weeks 1-9
readings encouraged, but not required.

2) In addition to course readings, videos and lectures, students are expected to conduct research in which they obtain qualitative and quantitative evidence and data
to support their thesis. Students must extract relevant information from the following source types: (at least) ONE book, (at least) ONE peer-reviewed scholarly
journal article, (at least) ONE newspaper article, (at least) ONE reputable website, (at least) ONE official government document and (at least) ONE official
international organization document. Assigned course readings DO NOT count toward the minimum requirement of one per source type.

*For information on conducting research, access “Research Tutorials” folder in general Course Materials section of course website.*

FORMATTING AND STRUCTURE REQUIREMENTS:

1) Your paper MUST be at least FIVE, and at most TWELVE, FULL PAGES of text, double-spaced.

2) Your paper MUST have a COVER/TITLE PAGE with (and in the following order):
a) A two-part title indicating your main argument in the CENTER of the page
b) Your name (at the bottom of the page)
c) Class name (at the bottom of the page)
3) Your paper must:
a) Be type-written in 12-point Times New Roman font and DOUBLE-SPACED.
b) Have page numbers written in 12-point Times New Roman font, centered at the bottom of each page.
c) Paragraphs beginning with FULL “Tab” indentations.
d) Have standard 1-inch margins on ALL SIDES.

4) Your paper MUST have an introduction and conclusion paragraph – and CLEAR thesis statement provided in the introduction and revisited/addressed in the
conclusion.

5) Your essay must have proper citation/documentation as it will consult, paraphrase and quote directly a number of sources, including assigned readings.
Acceptable citation formats include APA, footnotes or endnotes. A bibliography must be included regardless of method of in-text citation or use of endnotes.

6) In-text citations, including APA and the like, must provide author name(s), year of publication and exact page (or specific range of pages) from which
information is extracted. Online sources presented in bibliography must include date retrieved/accessed and full web address. (Exceptions to this policy on provision
of full web addresses include newspaper articles accessed via Lexis-Nexis, scholarly journal articles or book chapters accessed by Academic Search Premier or JSTOR,
and data retrieved from the Economist Intelligence Unit.)

FOR YOUR ASSIGNMENTS TO BE DONE AT A CHEAPER PRICE PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH US NOW