With the exception of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, nuclear weapons have never been used in a war despite the conditions of international relations characterized by constant conflict and instability. The norm of nuclear nonproliferation institutionalized by the NPT has been the major force behind this remarkable achievement. Yet, there have been increasing concerns about the erosion of the NPT regime due to noncompliance with the treaty's fundamental nonproliferation obligations by some 'states of concern,' seeking to possess and develop nuclear weapons. In particular, North Korea's unrestricted development of nuclear weapons and Iran's continuing assertion of its 'inalienable right' to pursue peaceful nuclear activities in defiance of a number of UN Security Council resolutions have posed fundamental challenges to the NPT. The dissertation examines two major questions: why and under what conditions are rules and norms of the global nuclear nonproliferation regime violated by some 'states of concern,' notably North Korea and Iran? How do we best explain the different dynamics of the nuclear nonproliferation negotiations between the major powers and these defector states within the framework of the NPT regime? By examining both questions in sequence, this research seeks to shed light on how differences in Pyongyang's and Tehran's rationales and major policy objectives to deviate from the global nuclear nonproliferation norm in the first place would have a bearing on the differences in their multilateral negotiations with the major powers (the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear crisis and the P5-plus-1 on Iran's) later on.
","abstract_html":"<p>With the exception of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, nuclear weapons have never been used in a war despite the conditions of international relations characterized by constant conflict and instability. The norm of nuclear nonproliferation institutionalized by the NPT has been the major force behind this remarkable achievement. Yet, there have been increasing concerns about the erosion of the NPT regime due to noncompliance with the treaty's fundamental nonproliferation obligations by some 'states of concern,' seeking to possess and develop nuclear weapons. In particular, North Korea's unrestricted development of nuclear weapons and Iran's continuing assertion of its 'inalienable right' to pursue peaceful nuclear activities in defiance of a number of UN Security Council resolutions have posed fundamental challenges to the NPT. The dissertation examines two major questions: why and under what conditions are rules and norms of the global nuclear nonproliferation regime violated by some 'states of concern,' notably North Korea and Iran? How do we best explain the different dynamics of the nuclear nonproliferation negotiations between the major powers and these defector states within the framework of the NPT regime? By examining both questions in sequence, this research seeks to shed light on how differences in Pyongyang's and Tehran's rationales and major policy objectives to deviate from the global nuclear nonproliferation norm in the first place would have a bearing on the differences in their multilateral negotiations with the major powers (the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear crisis and the P5-plus-1 on Iran's) later on.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Kim, Jihyun"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Campus Access Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Political Science","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Jerel Rosati"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2011,"date_issued":"2011-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2011-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:37:34Z","subjects":["Political Science","Social and Behavioral Sciences","Complex Interdependence","International Regime","Iran","Multilateral Negotiations","North Korea","Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty"],"languages":[],"rights":["© 2011, Jihyun Kim"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/1782","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Jerel Rosati"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Kim, Jihyun"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Political Science"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Campus Access Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Political Science","Social and Behavioral Sciences","Complex Interdependence","International Regime","Iran","Multilateral Negotiations","North Korea","Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["© 2011, Jihyun Kim"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/1782"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["With the exception of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, nuclear weapons have never been used in a war despite the conditions of international relations characterized by constant conflict and instability. The norm of nuclear nonproliferation institutionalized by the NPT has been the major force behind this remarkable achievement. Yet, there have been increasing concerns about the erosion of the NPT regime due to noncompliance with the treaty's fundamental nonproliferation obligations by some 'states of concern,' seeking to possess and develop nuclear weapons. In particular, North Korea's unrestricted development of nuclear weapons and Iran's continuing assertion of its 'inalienable right' to pursue peaceful nuclear activities in defiance of a number of UN Security Council resolutions have posed fundamental challenges to the NPT. The dissertation examines two major questions: why and under what conditions are rules and norms of the global nuclear nonproliferation regime violated by some 'states of concern,' notably North Korea and Iran? How do we best explain the different dynamics of the nuclear nonproliferation negotiations between the major powers and these defector states within the framework of the NPT regime? By examining both questions in sequence, this research seeks to shed light on how differences in Pyongyang's and Tehran's rationales and major policy objectives to deviate from the global nuclear nonproliferation norm in the first place would have a bearing on the differences in their multilateral negotiations with the major powers (the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear crisis and the P5-plus-1 on Iran's) later on.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Questions of Compliance With the NPT Regime and Complex Multilateral Nuclear Negotiations: A Comparative Analysis of North Korea and Iran As Defector States"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Jerel Rosati"],"dc:creator":["Kim, Jihyun"],"dc:description.abstract":["With the exception of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, nuclear weapons have never been used in a war despite the conditions of international relations characterized by constant conflict and instability. The norm of nuclear nonproliferation institutionalized by the NPT has been the major force behind this remarkable achievement. Yet, there have been increasing concerns about the erosion of the NPT regime due to noncompliance with the treaty's fundamental nonproliferation obligations by some 'states of concern,' seeking to possess and develop nuclear weapons. In particular, North Korea's unrestricted development of nuclear weapons and Iran's continuing assertion of its 'inalienable right' to pursue peaceful nuclear activities in defiance of a number of UN Security Council resolutions have posed fundamental challenges to the NPT. The dissertation examines two major questions: why and under what conditions are rules and norms of the global nuclear nonproliferation regime violated by some 'states of concern,' notably North Korea and Iran? How do we best explain the different dynamics of the nuclear nonproliferation negotiations between the major powers and these defector states within the framework of the NPT regime? By examining both questions in sequence, this research seeks to shed light on how differences in Pyongyang's and Tehran's rationales and major policy objectives to deviate from the global nuclear nonproliferation norm in the first place would have a bearing on the differences in their multilateral negotiations with the major powers (the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear crisis and the P5-plus-1 on Iran's) later on.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/1782"],"dc:rights":["© 2011, Jihyun Kim"],"dc:subject":["Political Science","Social and Behavioral Sciences","Complex Interdependence","International Regime","Iran","Multilateral Negotiations","North Korea","Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty"],"dc:title":["The Questions of Compliance With the NPT Regime and Complex Multilateral Nuclear Negotiations: A Comparative Analysis of North Korea and Iran As Defector States"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Political Science"],"thesis:degree_level":["Campus Access Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:37:34Z"}