Challenging nuclearism explores how a deliberate ‘normalisation’ of nuclear weapons has been constructed and why it has prevailed in international politics for over 70 years. It argues that it is only now that this normalisation is being questioned seriously. The book identifies several elements of ‘nuclearism’ to show how particular practices have enabled a small group of states to hold vast arsenals of these most destructive of all weapons of mass destruction. It argues that the evolution of nuclear discourses and the close control over nuclear decisions by a select group of government and policy elites has meant that the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons have been disregarded for decades. The dominance of nuclearism has also allowed a particular nuclear order to flourish, one which has been remarkably resistant to change. Against the backdrop of the successful application of a ‘humanitarian arms control’ approach to landmines and cluster munitions, several non-nuclear states and civil society actors forged a platform called the ‘Humanitarian Initiative on Nuclear Weapons’. This allowed new voices into the previously unassailable world of nuclear politics, and led to a landmark agreement, the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The treaty determines that because they violate the basic principles of international humanitarian law, nuclear weapons are now deemed to be illegitimate, immoral, and illegal for all states. The treaty will not bring about quick disarmament. It has been decried by the nuclear weapon states. But by rejecting nuclearism and providing a clear denunciation of nuclear weapons, the treaty – and the Humanitarian Initiative more broadly – will challenge nuclear states in a way that has until now not been possible. Challenging nuclearism analyses the origins and repercussions of this pivotal moment in nuclear politics.
