The fight against international terrorism and changes in the U.S. nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament strategy

• Main Author: Inmaculada Marrero Rocha
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB) 2003-12-01
• Series: Revista CIDOB d'Afers Internacionals
• Subjects: Estados Unidos; terrorismo; desarme nuclear; proliferación nuclear
• Online Access: http://www.cidob.org/es/content/download/3453/36647/file/64marrero.pdf

This article examines how the the fight against international terrorism, as a new organising principle in U.S. foreign policy and security policy, has conditioned and modified the American conception of and strategy for combatting nuclear arms proliferation. On the one hand, it analyses the concepts of “axis of evil” or “rogue states” as instruments of automatic and forced connection between international terrorism and nuclear armsproliferating states. On the other hand, it also deals with the changes in American nonproliferation and disarmament strategy, characterised by a distrust towards international cooperation and a clear preference for using means of a unilateral nature, which challenge, and even scorn, international institutions and the rules of international law in this area.