From the Six-Party Talks to a Northeast Asian Security Regime?: Cooperative Threat Reduction Strategies and Institutional Development

Abstract

Are there relevant lessons from the Nunn Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction case that can inform counterproliferation policy versus the nuclear weapons threats presented by North Korea? During the 1990s, there were various attempts by the Clinton Administration to innovate in national security policymaking. Innovations were attempted in peace operations, the interagency process, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Were the 1990s Clinton policy leadership efforts in stopping the threats of WMD proliferation in North Korea, India, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq all policy failures that could have been prevented? Could more effective Clinton Administration policy leadership have made US counterproliferation efforts more successful? This paper focuses on the Clinton Administration’s Counterproliferation Policy Initiative in the development and implementation of the Nunn Lugar programs for Cooperative Threat Reduction with Russia and the Former Soviet Republics. This case study uses institutionalist theory to explore using a cooperative strategy approach for building a counterproliferation regime in Northeast Asia. The analytical framework includes an examination of the Nunn Lugar, or Cooperative Threat Reduction Programs, from policy relevance and instrumental relevance perspectives. Overall, this paper’s findings suggest the significance of institution and organization-building approaches for improving counterproliferation policymaking. The option suggested here is to nurture a small group of like-minded states and statesmen (the six parties), focused around one specific functional area (counterproliferation), to build effective rules, organizations and enforcement mechanisms for developing an effective Northeast Asian security regime.