Half-century Evolution of US Non-proliferation Policy

Abstract

Abstract US nuclear policy has led the international nuclear non-proliferation regime. Since the denial policy in the late 1940s, the United States has played a major role in establishing and evolving the international nuclear non-proliferation regime. It initiated the establishment of the IAEA, creation of the NPT and the London Guidelines, and led the indefinite extension of the NPT in 1995. The US nuclear non-proliferation policy is still the single largest linchpin for the prevention of horizontal nuclear proliferation as well as the most influential variable in international diffusion of nuclear energy technology, particularly that of developing countries. The non-proliferation measures exerted by the United States and other advanced countries—such as the international safeguards, export control, and prior consent, combined with political influence and diplomatic pressure—remain as powerful variables affecting the technological development of nuclear energy in developing countries.