Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program (CTR) and Global Partnership against Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD): Possibilities for Better International Cooperation on WMD

Today, weapons of mass destruction (WMD) seriously threaten international security as states are in need of obtaining nuclear weapons. As the international system is anarchic, states need to provide their own security and as realism suggests the most important objective to achieve this is to have strong military power. States seek to increase their military power by acquiring nuclear weapons, even though there are numerous agreements that ban the production, transfer, and use of nuclear weapons unless they are for friendly purposes. The breakdown of the Soviet Union left states with their nuclear stockpiles and these weapons needed to be eliminated and secured before getting into wrong hands. The Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program is introduced as a case study to show how it can assist states to become nuclear free. The Nunn-Lugar CTR Program was successfully achieved in the former Soviet Union. On the other hand, North Korea has been expanding its nuclear stockpile and testing nuclear weapons. Today, North Korea seriously challenges international security with its nuclear experiments. The aim of the thesis is to provide necessary information to show that the CTR program cannot be applied to North Korea and to demonstrate how Trump Administration is challenged by North Korean nuclear activities.