Banning the Bomb: The Politics of Norm Creation

247 Pages·1.306 MB·English

by  Mallavarapu

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Banning the Bomb
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Banning the Bomb
The Politics of Norm Creation
Siddharth Mallavarapu
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Copyright © 2007 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade
or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the
publisher’s prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than
that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this
condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser and without lim-
iting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication
may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, pho-
tocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission
of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book.
ISBN: 978-81-317-0117-1
First Impression, 2007
Published by Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd., licensees of Pearson
Education in South Asia.
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Typeset by InoSoft Systems, Noida
Printed in India at Baba Barkha Nath Printers
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For my grandfather Shri Mahidhara Ananda Mohan Rao in
admiration of his erudition and receptivity to the idea of
intergenerational equity and to my grandmother Smt.
Kamakshi for her unconditional love and support
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CONTENTS
Foreword by B.S. Chimni ix
Acknowledgements xiii
List of Abbreviations xv
1. Introduction 1
2. The Politics of Norm Creation: The Engagement 31
of States and Non-state Actors
3. Individual Responses to the World Court’s 68
Majority Opinion
4. The Dissent of Judge Weeramantry 106
5. International Relations Theory and the July 1996 Opinion 140
6. Conclusion 167
Appendix 174
Bibliography 213
Index 222
About the Author 230
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FOREWORD
Siddharth Mallavarapu has written a brilliant book on a subject of crucial
interest to the global peace movement—the legality of the threat or use
of nuclear weapons. The book is written in elegant prose. It captures with
acumen the theoretical contestations relating to the politics of norm
creation through analyzing the events leading up to the seeking of the
Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) by the
United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and the subsequent opinion
of the Court in the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons case.
Mallavarapu frames his arguments in the matrix of the general debate
between structural realists, with their emphasis on power, and
constructivists, with their stress on the ideational element in international
relations. His contention is that the constructivist approach to interna-
tional relations offers a more insightful account of the politics of norm
creation. The World Court Project that persuaded UN member states to
seek the advisory opinion of the ICJ on the legality of the threat or
use of nuclear weapons was after all the initiative of non-state actors.
The enterprise showed how the consistent espousal of an idea, in this
case the need to delegitimize nuclear weapons, can help transform
normative space.
The opinion of the ICJ was delivered on July 8, 1996. By the casting
vote of the President of the ICJ (Judge Mohammed Bedjaoui) the Court
inter alia decided that “... the threat or use of nuclear weapons would
generally be contrary to the rules of international law applicable in armed
conflict, and in particular the principles and rules of humanitarian law.”
It, however, went on to add that “in view of the current state of