International Politics Of Nuclear Energy

Looking at the politics of nuclear waste, this book examines the subject from an international standpoint. Other works by the author Andrew Blowers include "The Limits of Power" and "Something in the Air", and he has been co-editor on books such as "Nuclear Power in Crisis".

This book offers a comprehensive assessment of the dynamics driving, and constraining, nuclear power development in Asia, Europe and North America, providing detailed comparative analysis. The book formulates a theory of nuclear socio-political economy which highlights six factors necessary for embarking on nuclear power programs: (1) national security and secrecy, (2) technocratic ideology, (3) economic interventionism, (4) a centrally coordinated energy stakeholder network, (5) subordination of opposition to political authority, and (6) social peripheralization. The book validates this theory by confirming the presence of these six drivers during the initial nuclear power developmental periods in eight countries: the United States, France, Japan, Russia (the former Soviet Union), South Korea, Canada, China, and India. The authors then apply this framework as a predictive tool to evaluate contemporary nuclear power trends. They discuss what this theory means for developed and developing countries which exhibit the potential for nuclear development on a major scale, and examine how the new "renaissance" of nuclear power may affect the promotion of renewable energy, global energy security, and development policy as a whole. The volume also assesses the influence of climate change and the recent nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan, on the nuclear power industry’s trajectory. This book will be of interest to students of energy policy and security, nuclear proliferation, international security, global governance and IR in general.

This timely introduction to the study of international relations places special emphasis on the politics of international economics and the nuclear threat. Written for beginning students, the book combines comprehensive and realistic introductory material basic to the study of international relations with in-depth case studies of major issues and problem areas such as management of the world economy and management of world military power, East-West and North-South (rich nation vs. poor nation) conflicts, and the struggle for resources and ways and means of preventing World War III. Readers untrained in economics will find the subject matter introduced before it is discussed in its applied form. Henry L. Bretton has published widely on Western and non-Western government, politics, and international relations. He is currently Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the State University of New York College at Brockport.

From the John Holmes Library Collection.