Understanding Nuclear Restraint: What Role Do Sanctions Play? A Study of Iraq, Taiwan, Libya, and Iran

The dissertation seeks to understand the role of sanctions in the scaling back of nuclear weapons programs. It analyzes the nuclear programs of four countries (Iraq, Taiwan, Libya, and Iran) based on a classification of nuclear restraint as Slow, Stop, and Rollback. The research finds that sanctions have, at times, played a significant intermediary role in ending nuclear weapons programs. The central argument is that the impact of sanctions can be understood in terms of limiting resources, or by affecting the motives for the nuclear program. Such a categorization of the sanctions impact contributes to the literature by delineating two broad ways by which alone sanctions can change a country's policy. The dissertation also contributes to the literature on nuclear proliferation by developing the concept of nuclear restraint in terms of three sub-categories (Slow, Stop, and Rollback).