Description
The existing research on nuclear disarmament extensively covers the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and its transformative position in changing norms, narratives, and discourses, as well as the role of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons and grassroots activism. However, less is known about the roles of experts, think tanks, and scholars. In addition, we know little about the relationship between these actors and states with respect to the production of such norms and regarding nuclear policy knowledge in general. Case studies on European think tanks (including the UK) allow us to address the research gap on the roles of expertise, including the impact of external along with internal factors on nuclear knowledge production. A qualitative inquiry employs semi-structured expert interviews with the leadership and experts from think tanks. Guided by the building blocks paradigm, this study regards nuclear disarmament from the perspective of positive peace. The findings of this empirical research contribute to scholarship on nuclear weapons, European studies, the politics of knowledge, and peace research.
