The Evolution of Enforcement in the Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Weapons Regimes

Recent events in the Middle East, Ukraine, and North Korea show that the risk of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons is still high. While existing inter­national security regimes related to these weapons are robust, they are in crisis. Violations and contestation of regimes create shocks and junctures that would either strengthen or weaken them. Compliance and enforcement are the normative practices to address such violations. The robustness of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons regimes correlates to the effectiveness of existing enforcement norms and procedures. Having all three regimes at a turning point makes analyzing the evolution of enforcement practices across the three regimes timely. The project involves a cross-regime analysis of enforce­ment norms and procedures to study the differences and offer an under­standing of the implications for the regimes.