The Global Distribution of Nuclear Morals

• In Event: Ethical and Security Implication of Nuclear and Emerging Technologies

Abstract

The Global South has been the vanguard of a more fair and just global nuclear order. Literature on these countries’ participation in the nuclear order has predominantly focused on the normative arguments they advance during multilateral negotiations. Many of their efforts are motivated by a moral delineation between the politics of fairness and the politics of fear. They have sought to secure access to civilian nuclear power for economic reasons, while distrusting nuclear deterrence. Yet, the literature sidelines a key actor: the public. This paper offers the first systematic, cross-national study of global public support for nuclear abolition and peaceful civilian atomic energy. While we find heterogeneity among developing countries, the Global South and Global North differences are more striking. The Global South’s normative arguments in nuclear negotiations are not mere “window-dressing.” Rather, the moral framework of nuclear fairness and justice has penetrated the consciousness of publics around the globe.

Authors

• J. Luis Rodriguez, George Mason University

• Stephen Herzog, Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey

• Lauren Sukin, London School of Economics