The Hegemon's Tool Kit: US Leadership and the Politics of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Regime

Rebecca Davis Gibbons' book "The Hegemon's Tool Kit" provides an analysis of the international system that has controlled the spread of nuclear weapons for over fifty years. The US government's efforts to persuade other states to join or support nonproliferation agreements have been key to the regime's success, but the waning of US global influence and the deepening global divide over progress on nuclear disarmament pose threats. The Chinese government is not taking significant steps to support the regime, which may lead to a harmful leadership gap.

Format: Hardback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 28 June 2022
Publisher: Cornell University Press

When the nuclear nonproliferation regime faces significant challenges,Rebecca Davis Gibbons offers a penetrating analysis of the international system that has,for over fifty years,regulated the spread of these catastrophic weapons. The Hegemon's Tool Kit provides a detailed account of how this regime functions and how, tragically, it could fail. Experts in the early nuclear era predicted that all technologically capable states would develop these powerful devices. That did not occur. The widespread development of nuclear weapons did not occur, in large part, because a global nuclear nonproliferation regime was established. By the late 1960s, the United States and the Soviet Union had drafted the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), and over the decades, the regime has expanded, with more agreements and more nations participating. As a result, in 2022, only nine states possess nuclear weapons. Why do most states in the international system adhere to the nuclear nonproliferation regime? Gibbons asserts that the answer lies in decades of painstaking efforts undertaken by the US government. As the most powerful state during the nuclear age, the United States had many tools with which to persuade other states to join or otherwise support nonproliferation agreements. The waning of US global influence, as demonstrated in The Hegemon's Tool Kit, poses a significant threat to the nonproliferation regime. Similarly, the deepening global divide over progress on nuclear disarmament is a concern. To date, the Chinese government is not taking significant steps to support the nuclear nonproliferation regime, and as a result, the regime may face a harmful leadership gap.

Weight: 28g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781501764851