Nuclear Authority: The IAEA and the Absolute Weapon - Hardcover

A welcome addition to the nuclear nonproliferation literature and to broader work on institutions and organizations in international relations. --Political Science Quarterly A welcome addition to the limited and often out-of-date literature about this important international institution. --Perspectives on Politics

Robert L. Brown has written both a history of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and an analysis of how it has transformed from a weak agent of multilateral cooperation into a strong international nuclear authority over the past two decades. Today, it is one of the most powerful international organizations of any kind, with the ability to inspect and judge member states' nuclear programs and to issue rules and commands regarding nuclear issues. The IAEA also plays an important role in counterproliferation enforcement. Brown argues that the IAEA has been able to acquire power over states on nuclear issues because states have realized that they need, for both political and technological reasons, the IAEA to supply nuclear policy cooperation and to be an agent for nuclear safety and security. The IAEA is in the news on an almost weekly basis, and this book will provide the most in depth and up-to-date overview of the organization. The book will also explain the puzzle of why states would collectively create an agent to help them cooperate, only to see that agent acquire power over them.