Coalitions and Multilateral Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament Negotiations

Citation

Dee M (2025) Coalitions and Multilateral Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament Negotiations. In: Nuclear Negotiations. Perspectives on Global Affairs. Springer Nature Switzerland, pp. 157-172. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-03565-3_10

Abstract
Despite the significant challenges facing multilateralism in the twenty-first century, multilateral negotiation continues to form a mainstay of inter-state diplomatic interaction and deliberation in addressing the world’s most challenging transnational problems. Nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament are no exception. Where it concerns the possession, testing, use, or renunciation of nuclear weapons, multilateral negotiation in fact occurs across myriad forums including the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review cycle, the UN General Assembly, First Committee and Open-Ended Working Groups, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNWs), the Conference on Disarmament (CD), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors and General Conference, along with various regional non-nuclear weapon-free zone organisations. The aim of this chapter is to consider the function, merits and limits of coalitions in multilateral nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament negotiations. First offering an overview of the extant scholarship on coalition dynamics within the broader international negotiation literature, the chapter then sets out the benefits and challenges of coalitions as a mechanism to 'manage complexity' in multilateral disarmament negotiations. From there the chapter establishes the major characteristics for researching coalitions within multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations and their relevant policy implications.