Research, ideas, and leadership for a more secure, peaceful world

Past Event
Seminar

Big Sticks and Contested Carrots: A Theory of International Security Institutions

Open to the Public

Why are some regulatory arrangements such as the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty and Landmines Convention weak, while others like the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) more robust? In this seminar, the speaker suggests that while states negotiate institutions for a variety of purposes, only those institutions built by powerful states to regulate the behavior of weaker states are likely to be strong and effective in changing state behavior. The speaker tests his theory with a brief overview of security institutions in different issue areas selecting cases to provide variation in institutional strength — spread of nuclear weapons, use of land mines, use of force in post–Cold War Europe (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), and missile defense during the Cold War (ABM Treaty).

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.

Date: Time: - Location: Littauer Building - Belfer Center Library, Room 369
The seats of the U.S. delegation are vacant during the ceremony marking the entry into force of the Ottawa Convention on the prohibition of landmines at Geneva, Switzerland, on Mar. 1, 1999. The U.S. did not sign or ratify the convention.

About

Why are some regulatory arrangements such as the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty and Landmines Convention weak, while others like the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) more robust? In this seminar, the speaker suggests that while states negotiate institutions for a variety of purposes, only those institutions built by powerful states to regulate the behavior of weaker states are likely to be strong and effective in changing state behavior. The speaker tests his theory with a brief overview of security institutions in different issue areas selecting cases to provide variation in institutional strength — spread of nuclear weapons, use of land mines, use of force in post–Cold War Europe (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), and missile defense during the Cold War (ABM Treaty).

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.