Recent tensions surrounding the nuclear ambitions of North Korea and Iran, as well as shocking revelations about A. Q. Khan's atomic bazaar, have drawn attention to the role of the United Nations in addressing a host of nuclear challenges. Yet the world organization's role has largely been absent from both scholarly and policy research. The United Nationsand Nuclear Orders fills this void by shedding light on the past, present, and future roles of the UN in respondingto the threats and challenges posed by nuclear weapons.

This book examines UN actors, tools, and issues associated with the changing nature of the environment in which it operates; the ways in which it has and might respond to technological and political problems; and the questions and difficulties that arise for the world organization. Issues covered in the book include doctrinal questions on the use of force, the regional dynamics of nuclear proliferation, and growing concern that the nuclear order established by the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty may collapse or simply be overtaken by events