Book Chapter Details
Mandatory Fields
Mervyn O'Driscoll
2024 November
Neutral Europe and the Creation of the Nonproliferation Regime
Ireland: Frank Aiken's Early Steps to Contain Nuclear Proliferation
Routledge
London
Published
1
Optional Fields
Ireland, particularly Frank Aiken, is remembered as a trailblazer, focusing attention on the spread of nuclear weapons and proposing a treaty between nuclear and non-nuclear powers. Foreign minister Aiken's crusade was a component of his broader outlook and an assertion of Ireland's role as a middle power. It is clear that he took advantage of Irish military neutrality to assume the mantle of an honest broker. Adhering to Paul Kennedy’s ‘parliament of man' image of the UN, Aiken's commitment and perseverance are remarkable. Inspired by the Swedish' middle power' paradigm and the rhetoric of the Swedish Secretary-General of the UN, Dag Hammarskjold, Ireland benefited from the UN's widening membership during the age of decolonization. The indefatigable Aiken was the architect of Ireland's advocacy of non-proliferation. His interest emerged from his early disarmament proposals designed to stabilize Central Europe, the Middle East and East Asia, and he grew convinced that the world was on the cusp of a proliferation tipping point. The chapter draws on published UN records to supplement Irish archives. Unlike previous accounts, it benefits from US State Department records. The latter fills in America's role in setting the attitude of the Western-oriented states, particularly those of the Atlantic Alliance (NATO), towards Aiken's non-proliferation campaign. The account delineates how the US-NATO nexus was axiomatic: Afro-Asian support and the emergent non-aligned sentiment were not enough. The Irish literature detailing Aiken's travails underplays the centrality of his navigation of the NATO nuclear sharing discussions after 1958. This lacuna is due to its dependence on Irish archives. For Aiken, America was the hinge to seal the nuclear weapons cupboard and secure near complete UN backing for non-proliferation. He grasped that the Soviet Union was instinctively antiproliferation and the Afro-Asians were supportive. Aiken insisted that the Superpowers' self-interest lay in halting proliferation. A sub-theme is the British dimension. A deep reading of the Irish archives exposes Britain's role in transcending US and NATO objections to the Irish resolutions.
Pascal Lottaz; Yoko Iwama
9781003310563
https://www-taylorfrancis-com.ucc.idm.oclc.org/
85
112
https://www-taylorfrancis-com.ucc.idm.oclc.org/books/edit/10.4324/9781003310563/neutral-europe-creation-nonproliferation-regime-pascal-lottaz-yoko-iwama
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