The diversion to military programmes of materials and technologies obtained from foreign suppliers for peaceful purposes has played a prominent role in the known cases of nuclear proliferation‎.‎ The need to strengthen nuclear export controls has been identified by the G8 group of industrialized states and the European Union‎.‎ This study examines the structure and activities of the Nuclear Suppliers Group ‎(‎NSG‎)‎ as an ad hoc group of 44 states committed to applying effective controls on the export of nuclear‎-related dual‎-use equipment and material‎.‎ In this context‎,‎ the study raises the questions of what kinds of nuclear activity are consistent with the obligations of states parties to the nuclear Non‎-Proliferation Treaty ‎(‎NPT‎)‎‎.‎ It examines the relationship and contradictions between Article IV of the NPT‎,‎ which gives non‎-nuclear weapon states parties an ‎'‎inalienable right‎'‎ to nuclear materials and technology for peaceful uses‎,‎ and the rules and guidelines agreed by the NSG‎,‎ which are intended to block access to nuclear material and technologies for military use‎.‎ The study considers how theses guidelines are interpreted in two specific cases‎:‎ Iran and India‎.‎ It examines the potential impact on decision making within the NSG of the tendency to divide the world into categories based on ‎'‎good‎'‎ and ‎'‎bad‎'‎ behaviour using political criteria rather than the record of each recipient vis‎-a‎-vis the nuclear non‎-proliferation regime‎.‎ The study also discusses whether and to what extent other current processes and instruments intended to prevent nuclear proliferation‎-‎-specifically the Proliferation Security Initiative and the activities of the IAE and the UN ‎'‎1540‎'‎ Committee‎-‎-can supplement export control decision making‎,‎ or even supplant the role of the NSG‎.‎‎"‎

• Book Name‎:‎ Reforming Nuclear Export Controls
• Auother‎:‎ Ian Anthony‎,‎ Christer Ahlstrom‎,‎ Vitaly Fedchenko‎,‎ Shannon N‎.‎ Kile
• Publisher‎:‎ Oxford University Press
• ISBN‎:‎ 9780199290864
• Book Type‎:‎ Law & International Law