Civil Society and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of Warwick Permanent WRAP URL: http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/90836 Copyright and reuse: This thesis is made available online and is protected by original copyright. Please scroll down to view the document itself. Please refer to the repository record for this item for information to help you to cite it. Our policy information is available from the repository home page. For more information, please contact the WRAP Team at: [email protected] warwick.ac.uk/lib-publications Strategies of Disarmament: Civil Society and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Roberta Mulas November 2016 Department of Politics and International Studies UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK 2 Table of Contents List of Tables and Illustrations 6 Acknowledgments 7 Declaration 9 Abstract 10 List of Abbreviations 11 Chapter 1 Introduction: Global Civil Society and the Nuclear Order 13 1.1 Civil society and nuclear struggles 18 1.1.1 Methodological nationalism in nuclear civil society research 20 1.1.2 A transnational phenomenon: global nuclear civil society 24 1.1.3 Locating a critical approach to global nuclear civil society 28 1.2 Research design 36 1.2.1 Argument and contribution 38 1.2.2 Case study selection 40 1.2.3 Methodology 47 1.2.4 Chapter outline 52 Chapter 2 Nuclear Ordering Ideas: Deterrence, Non-Proliferation, Arms Control, Disarmament 57 2.1 Deterrence: a dominant concept 62 2.1.1 The theory of deterrence 63 2.1.1.1 A note on the practice of deterrence 68 2.1.2 Critics of deterrence theory: third wave and beyond 72 2.2 Non-proliferation and its regime 78 2.2.1 Theories of proliferation 82 2.2.2 Second nuclear age 87 2.3 The contested field of arms control 93 2.4 Disarmament as the logical opposite of deterrence 97 2.5 Conclusion 102 Chapter 3 Towards a Definition of Global Nuclear Governance 105 3.1 Security governance 106 3.1.1 The rise of transnational and non-governmental actors 109 3.1.2 Coordinated management and regulation 116 3.2 Nuclear governance 123 3.2.1 Actors of nuclear governance: more than Just states 125 3.2.2 Regimes of nuclear governance 131 3 3.3 Conclusion 139 Chapter 4 Global Civil Society: Anatomy of a Research Programme 143 4.1 Mainstream perspectives 147 4.1.1 Frames 154 4.2 Critical civil society research 156 4.2.1 Gramscian civil society 161 4.3 Conclusion 171 Chapter 5 Analytical Framework: Civil Society’s Discursive Contribution to Nuclear Governance 173 5.1 Theoretical approach: navigating critical approaches to nuclear discourse 175 5.1.1 The emerging field of critical nuclear studies 175 5.1.2 Studying discourse: a critical constructivist approach 184 5.2 A Gramscian contribution to critical nuclear studies 191 5.2.1 Civil society and nuclear common sense 196 5.3 Conclusion 201 Chapter 6 Introducing the Case: Nuclear Civil Society and the NPT 204 6.1 A brief history of nuclear civil society 205 6.1.1 The three waves of anti-nuclear activism 206 6.1.2 Nuclear civil society after the Cold War: a fourth wave? 214 6.2 Distinctions in global nuclear civil society 224 6.3 Negotiating civil society access to the NPT 228 6.4 Conclusion 238 Chapter 7 Civil Society at the NPT: A Search for Ideologies of Disarmament and Deterrence 241 7.1 Civil society frames at the 2015 NPT Review Conference 245 7.2 The abolitionist camp and its disarmament frame 248 7.2.1.1 Origins of the humanitarian discourse 252 7.2.2 The threat: all nukes 256 7.2.3 The response: To ban or not to ban? 264 7.2.4 Summary 269 7.3 The reductionist camp and its disarmament frame 271 7.3.1.1 Origins of the nuclear security discourse 275 7.3.2 The threat: nuclear proliferation to unreliable actors 280 7.3.3 The response: a step-by-step recipe 283 7.3.3.1 The step-by-step discourse at the NPT 287 7.3.4 Summary 292 7.4 Conclusion 294 Chapter 8 Civil Society Common Sense and Historic Bloc at the NPT 296 8.1 Civil society NPT frames and common sense meanings of nuclear disarmament 298 8.1.1 Discourse contestation and the common sense of nuclear disarmament 300 8.1.2 Maintaining common sense: the deterrence-disarmament continuum 306 8.2 Nuclear civil society and the creation of the historic bloc 311 8.2.1.1 States 312 8.2.1.2 Popular mobilisation 318 4 8.2.1.3 Funding 322 8.2.1.4 Local vs. global 326 8.2.2 Struggling to create a historic bloc 328 8.3 Conclusion 331 Chapter 9 Conclusion 337 Appendix A Civil Society at the 2015 Review Conference of the NPT 348 Appendix B List of interviewees 359 Bibliography 364 5 List of Tables and Illustrations Figures Figure 1: Scheme of Nuclear Governance Arrangements 136 Figure 2: ICAN sticker and card 250 Figure 3: Hibakushas at the Peace&Planet march 251 Figure 4: ICAN and the Nuclear Weapons Ban on Twitter 260 Figure 5: The Weasel, Wildfire>_ flyer 261 Figure 6: Global Zero visual demonstration, New York, 3 May 2015 275 Figure 7: Phases of Global Zero Action Plan 285 Figure 8: The continuum between deterrence and disarmament regimes 308 Figure 9: Tweets after the UN General Assembly resolution, 27 October 2016 341 Tables Table 1: Images of Nuclear Governance 131 Table 2: Disarmament discourses by abolitionists 269 Table 3: Disarmament frames in the reductionist camp 293 Table 4: Visions of Disarmament for Global Zero and ICAN 299 6 Acknowledgments This PhD has been a journey in many ways and it brought me to unexpected places. When I started I had no idea that parts of this thesis would be written from the halls of the UN General Assembly and others from the middle of the Tyrrhenian Sea, nor that I would end up living in Rome or developing a passion for a Sardinian thinker. It seems in fact that the most unexpected place to which this project brought me is home, although that came only after changing many apartments and feeling at home in three different countries. For this journey, intellectual and not, I am thankful to all the people who made it possible and enjoyable. My first thanks goes to all the institutions that made my research a reality: the GEM PhD School first of all, for its generous support, for boosting my already nomadic nature, and for introducing me to the many wonderful people in its community; the lively Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick that gave me more than the intellectual stimulation I needed when starting this project; and the Department of Political Science at LUISS University, for trusting me with teaching hundreds of its young minds. Within those two institutions I am especially grateful to my supervisors, Stuart Croft and Raffaele Marchetti, who managed to guide me and ask the hard questions, without ever forgetting to encourage me or share a laugh. I owe the greatest debt of gratitude to all those people who agreed to talk to me during the fieldwork. If they had not taken the time to explain their involvement in the struggle for nuclear disarmament probably these pages would be almost blank. Peeking into their lives and listening to their stories has been a privilege and an inspiration that will remain with me. Even beyond my interviewees, there are tens of people who contributed to the pleasantness of my fieldwork experience: from the Pugwash team to my New York landlady, from my travel companions to the teams of guards, cafeteria employees, and secretaries at the UN. Thanks for helping in many ways, often even with just a smile. 7 This project would have never started, let alone be finished, without the constant backing of my Mamma, Babbo, and Reno, who somehow never shared my doubts and kept reminding me that I could do this: for that, and so much more, thank you! In addition, my family at large brightened many days during these four years and gave me strength during the gloomy ones. Great thanks also to my American families, who welcomed me into their homes once more and remain an example of selfless generosity. Last but not least, I am thankful to my friends who made sure I did not forget to be my silly self in the attempt to finish this project. In the UK and in Italy, in New York and scattered around the World, many people have heard more that they ever wished on nuclear disarmament and civil society and still, surprisingly, stayed by my side. I am very lucky to have shared these years with some amazing people: my greatest friend, Sibilla, who tried to make sure I laughed, ate, and wore make-up even in the final stages (failing only on item three!); Marta, who helped me make sense of things even from the other side of the World; Simona, for our chats on and beyond Gramsci; Lisa for being a wonderful friend and all the legendary B1.21 team, Ali and Yiming particularly, for great fun; my housemates Dzeneta, Bahadir, and Jakub for being much more than that; my Forlì friends in Rome and Brussels, especially Simone and Alberto, for making me feel like no time had passed since we were undergrads; in Rome I could also benefit from the great companionship of Silvia and precious research assistance of Valentina and Valeria.

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