The history of nuclear politics has witnessed various developments of arms control and disarmament initiatives in which the proponents of the international non-proliferation regime adopted various measures for regulating nuclear behaviour of different states. The quest for effectively countering the states’ desires for transforming nuclear technology from a peaceful to non-peaceful dimension has always been considered as a prerequisite for preventing the spread of nuclear weapons in the international system. Thus, creating the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) formalized the global arms control and disarmament efforts consisting of its three pillars i.e. non-proliferation, disarmament, and peaceful uses of nuclear energy. These three pillars formally laid the foundations of an internationally comprehensive non-proliferation regime for the world. The combination of these three principles tried to advance the broader agenda of arms control and disarmament worldwide. The formulation of NPT in 1968 introduced a larger framework of a multilateral agreement, which allowed states with nuclear weapon capabilities and the states without military-oriented nuclear programs to join the NPT. Parallel to this multilateral framework of the agreement, leaders of different nations created various levels of bilateral commitments for upholding the agenda of arms control and disarmament in the world. The history of the Cold War politics is full of American and Soviet bilateral engagements for managing nuclear shadows in the international system. Analogous to multilateral and bilateral intergovernmental level involvement of states in the mainstream arms control and disarmament efforts, the unilateral initiatives rarely emerged for supporting the global agenda of non-proliferation. The book under review discusses the significance of unilateral initiatives of States generally and the American proposal for increasing emphasis of the international community on the question of nuclear security, specifically. This book selected the case of the Nuclear Security Summit (NSS), which formed Washington’s unilateral initiative under the Obama administration. This book is written by Amandeep S. Gill, who is a renowned academician with brief scholarly contributions in the existing literature concerning the nuclear politics of States. While having a professional career related to the practical dimensions of knowledge linked to the politics of arms control and disarmament, Gill has served in the Conference on Disarmament as India’s special ambassador and permanent representative.
The book under review attempts to reflect Gill’s scholarly approach towards studying and evaluating the process of NSS proposed by the American government under the leadership of the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama. The United States introduced the importance of nuclear security in the era of terrorism and the inclusion of nuclear security efforts proposed by the American leadership as the essential feature of global arms control and disarmament efforts. This suggestion brought about a transformation in the international framework of various arms and disarmament initiatives. The transformation from addressing the main issues of nuclear proliferation to emphasizing the emerging issues of nuclear security convinced the international community of the improvement of international arms control and disarmament agenda. So, this book is a scholarly attempt to discuss a new domain of the global non-proliferation agenda of the international community. The main arguments of the writer revolve around the need for upgrading the conventional patterns of global counter-proliferation efforts. By covering the evolution of the concept of nuclear security and its application in world politics, in the form of the American-proposed NSS, Gill has attempted to describe the history of the contemporary nuclear forum of the international community. The process of the NSS consisted of four meetings which were held in the US (2010), South Korea (2012), the Netherlands (2014), and again in the US (2016). The starting and ending of the NSS process in Washington allowed the US government to evaluate the process of its unilateral initiative for bringing the international community on the single agenda of countering the probable scenarios of nuclear security issues in the world because it was planned by the Obama administration to “secure all vulnerable nuclear material around the world within four years.” An American pledge for addressing the threats of nuclear security within a defined period of four years was initially mentioned in the famous Prague Speech of Obama. The Prague Speech originally coined the idea of nuclear security by citing prevailing threats of nuclear terrorism on the world.
The book is divided into seven chapters explaining the concept of nuclear security and its worldwide implementation. While the first chapter is the introduction, the last chapter deals with the concluding analysis and the other five chapters provide details of NSS meetings in different parts of the world. The debate in the four chapters comprises the details of four sessions of NNS meeting which is supported by a brief history of the idea of nuclear security in the second chapter. Thus, the main arguments contain the details of NSS meetings and the assessment of its performance in desired directions linked to the idea of nuclear security. The central part of the book attempts to show the strength of the NSS process due to an active and appreciable response of the international community. The increased number of participating nations after the first meeting validated the international acceptance of NSS on legitimate grounds. Therefore, the main structure of the book contains a fascinating account of the NSS process and its global appreciation. In other words, the debate in the book reflects American dominating ideas in the international nuclear debates where Washington has always remained reluctant in discussing the multileveled strategic supplies of the US to its major allies. On critical lines, the debates of NSS did not discuss the negative impact of American nuclear supplies to its strategic partners around the world; this is lacking in the book which has certainly diminished the scope of Gill’s study in the existing literature related to the arms control and disarmament. Therefore, one must conclude that the writer’s academic efforts are somewhat deficient as it fails to formulate a conceptually impartial and independently balanced analysis. Undoubtedly, the study by an Indian diplomat trying to present an academic account in describing a new dimension of global nuclear politics is praiseworthy, nonetheless the absence of a pragmatic approach has undermined the validity and legitimacy of the analysis.
Based on the academic features of Gill’s scholarly survey mentioned above, it is appropriate to main that this book tries to describe a new dimension of international non-proliferation efforts by improving the traditional concept of arms control and disarmament. So, it could be treated as an appropriate study for students interested in developing their comprehension on the evolution of global non-proliferation efforts under different frameworks of agreements between states. Moreover, it could also be observed as an interesting reading for understanding American attempts for keeping its active dominance and progressive behaviour in global nuclear politics. In a general way, the process of NSS, discussed in the book, has attempted to empower the idea of nuclear non-proliferation under transnational threats of terrorism due to the increasing emphasis of the US on creating a world free from various faces of terrorism. Thus, various policymaking and decision-making authorities of various States may find this book an interesting account of American non-proliferation thinking influenced by its own unilateral worldwide counter-terror campaigns.
