Session Abstract

In recent years, there has been a renaissance in scholarship on nuclear matters, in which historians and political scientists have been actively participating. For historians, previously closed archives around the world are gradually becoming accessible. Among political scientists, innovative and sophisticated methodologies, critical analysis and formal modeling are generating new insights on nuclear issues. Taken together, scholars from these two disciplines are focusing on unanswered puzzles and exploring questions surrounding the causes and consequences of nuclear proliferation, role and impact of nuclear strategies, and relationship between civilian and military nuclear programs, amongst others. The purpose of this AHA Roundtable is to present research by historians and political scientists that demonstrates this new cross-disciplinary perspective.

Among the historians, Hal Brands of Duke University explores how new archival revelations are reshaping our understanding of nuclear issues, and how historians and political scientists can best place themselves methodologically to avail of these opportunities. Jay Sarkar of the Graduate Institute Geneva discusses how multi-archival research can open up possibilities for exploring nuclear histories of countries with difficult archival accessibility, with special reference to South Asia. Among the political scientists, Scott Sagan of Stanford University sheds light on alternative explanations on whether and how international treaties influence state behavior, with particular reference to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Alexandre Debs of Yale University underlines the promises and shortcomings of the use of strategic theories in studying nuclear history. Finally, Nuno Monteiro, also from Yale University, argues how history can be the necessary link between theory and policy in the study of nuclear proliferation. All the five speakers on this roundtable discuss approaches and research methodologies from which historians and political scientists can jointly benefit and further this newly emerging field of Nuclear Studies.

The roundtable also resonates well with the 2015 AHA theme of “History and Other Disciplines”. The audience for this session would include, but be not limited to, scholars interested in strategic studies, international security, diplomatic history, and the Cold War and after.