Call for articles: Nuclear Non-Proliferation and the Global South

AVVISO SCADUTO

The International Spectator aims to provide academics, practitioners, opinion- and decision-makers, as well as interested laymen with thought-provoking, analytically sound, theoretically informed and policy-oriented research articles, opinion essays and book reviews on foreign policy issues. Topics cover the entire spectrum of international affairs, from ongoing international politics, economics and security affairs to pressing questions on the international agenda such as climate and energy, global migration and development.

The International Spectator currently welcomes the submission of proposals for articles to be considered for peer review and publication in a special issue of the journal on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and the Global South: Understanding Divergences and Commonalities, guest edited by Manuel Herrera, Tanvi Kulkarni and Vicente Garrido. Submissions from scholars at any level of seniority and from both academic and non-academic research institutions are welcome. Contributions from authors from the “Global South”, as well as women authors, are highly encouraged.

This special issue will focus on the Global South’s[1] approach to nuclear non-proliferation, arms control and nuclear disarmament. The collection of articles in this special issue is aimed towards exploring the commonalities and divergences in the approaches of Global South countries, and their consequences for the non-proliferation regime itself. For this special issue, the journal invites research articles on (but certainly not limited to) the following topics:
• Global South perspectives on the evolving nuclear order, the status of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and the norms of the nuclear non-proliferation regime, as well as on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).
• Agency and representation: The Global South’s contribution to global and regional institutional frameworks in advancing the nuclear non-proliferation, arms control and disarmament agenda.
• The contribution of Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones as catalysts for nuclear disarmament and a Global Zero, with a special emphasis on how agreements such as AUKUS can jeopardise the integrity and operationalisation of these Zones.
• Access and control: The role of the Global South in the politics and institutions of export control, for instance in forums like the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).
• The Global South and the impact of new intangible technologies on arms control and export treaties.
• The impacts of nuclear weapons tests on the Global South and on how the countries perceive the treaties, regimes and institutions of the global nuclear order.
• The effects of decolonisation on the Global South's approaches to nuclear non-proliferation, arms control and disarmament.
• Global South views on proliferation scenarios such as Iran’s nuclear breakout and increasing nuclear arsenals of nuclear weapons countries, including India, Pakistan and North Korea.

All article proposals must address the topic from a clear perspective and discussing a well-defined research question. Each proposal should include:

• A title clearly stating the subject matter and the chosen approach
• Rationale (500 words, outlining the scope and significance of the proposed topic and approach)
• The name(s), affiliation(s) and bio(s) of the author(s).

The guest editors of the special issue will select the successful proposals to be considered for peer review and publication based on their quality, originality and completeness.

Please note that all articles considered for publication will go through a peer review process as do all individual submissions, following the journal’s guidelines.

Proposals for articles should be sent to m.herrera@iai.it by 30 September 2022. The deadline for submission of full papers will be January, 2nd, 2023. Please do not hesitate to contact Manuel Herrera for any pre-submission inquiries.


[1] The term "Global South" refers to developing countries with emerging economies and is based on the fact that all industrially developed countries in the world (with the exception of Australia and New Zealand) are located to the northern hemisphere. The term underlines that, although developing countries are very diverse in terms of economic, social and political attributes, they all share a set of vulnerabilities and challenges in terms of human development vis-à-vis the global north (UNDP 2004).