The monograph „Schurkenstaaten als Normunternehmer. Iran und die Kontrolle von Massenvernichtungswaffen“ by Carmen Wunderlich explores a rather counterintuitive question: It asks whether so-called rogue states – assumed antagonists of a Western-liberal world order – could also act as norm entrepreneurs by championing the genesis and evolution of global norms. Wunderlich discusses this issue by analyzing the arms control policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran. A comparison with the prototypical norm entrepreneur Sweden and the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea – known as a notorious norm-breaker – reveals interesting insights for norm research: Apparently, norm entrepreneurship manifests itself in different degrees and phases of the norm life cycle. The finding that Iran indeed acts as a norm entrepreneur in some cases also sheds light on those factors that might account for the success or failure of norm advocacy. Finally, the findings seem to suggest treating rogue states not simply as irrational antagonists of the current world order only. There might be cases, in which it would be politic to perceive them as legitimate participants in a discourse about how the ruling order should look like.
The monograph is published in the series "Studien des Leibniz-Instituts Hessische Stiftung Friedens- und Konfliktforschung" and is available at Springer VS publishing house.