PYQ Vault · Paper 2 · Changing International Political Order
Discuss the evolution of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons in the post-Cold War period.
How the answer moves
The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.
Flow snapshot — how the answer moves
Intro routes
NTRO ROUTES R1 regime built for two-power management — after 1991 agenda widens, authority does not → that gap = the evolution R2 post-1991 record = new treaties, new summits, a prohibition — none of them binds the states holding the weapons
Body flow
NPT stays the core → 1995 indefinite extension = permanence → Perkovich: India, Pakistan outside, non-recognition → 1995 freezes the exclusion → deepening stalls: CTBT (1996) not in force, FMCT blocked by US + other weapon states — growth turns sideways — GICNT (2006): non-state actors, nuclear terrorism — Obama push: Prague (2009), UNSC 1887, four Nuclear Security Summits — energy renewed, arsenals stay — 2017 prohibition treaty: first comprehensive ban, no nuclear power inside
Counter-view
DUNTER-VIEW Waltz: weapons kept the Cold War cold — holders will not disarm what they credit with peace — US-Russia competition revived, New START expiring 2026
Conclusion routes
INCLUSION ROUTES R1 Simpson: under-delivery since the 1990s (Iran, North Korea) → universal, verifiable, non-discriminatory process → non- proliferation now, disarmament later R2 the period added instruments, not authority → the regime grew in law while consent stayed where 1991 left it
Model answer
Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.
