Atomic Robin Hood, Nuclear Sheriff

Whether one agrees with its judgments or not, the Nobel Peace Committee8217;s sense of political timing has always been acute. Its decision...

Whether one agrees with its judgments or not, the Nobel Peace Committee8217;s sense of political timing has always been acute. Its decision to award this year8217;s Peace Prize, at once prestigious and controversial, to the International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA and its long-serving secretary, General Mohammad ElBaradei has been widely welcomed. That has not prevented a debate on the logic that could have gone into the decision. Some have seen the award to the IAEA as a kick at the US. After all, the IAEA and ElBaradei withstood immense American pressures to charge Saddam Hussein with suspected nuclear activities in the run-up to the war and occupation of Iraq in 2003.

Others see it as part of a new attempt to legitimise the potential political hanging of Iran on the question of nuclear proliferation. The Nobel Peace Committee8217;s choice this year amidst the recognition that in the post 9/11 world, the potential combination of weapons of mass destruction and terrorism is the single biggest threat to international security. As the proliferation of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction emerge as an important casus belli, like in the Iraq war during 2003, making technical judgments on the state of proliferation has emerged as an issue of considerable significance. The inability to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq after the ouster of Saddam Hussein in 2003 has raised strong political questions within the US and elsewhere on the rationale for the US occupation of Iraq. As a consequence there is widespread scepticism today of the new charges against Iran on the violation of its obligations under the NPT. The legitimacy of the Western nuclear confrontation with Iran will depend a lot on the kind of assessments that the IAEA will come up with.

The IAEA has taken a balanced approach so far in its reporting on Tehran. Its elevated moral stature after the Nobel Prize, should better position the IAEA in providing an objective technical basis for future international actions against Iran. The Nobel Committee has rightly noted the 8220;incalculable importance8221; of the IAEA8217;s work in preventing further proliferation of WMD. It has also praised ElBaradei as 8220;being unafraid8221; in coming up with controversial proposals for strengthening the global nuclear order. Some time ago, El Baradei proposed that the right of member states to withdraw from the NPT, by citing national security reasons, be abridged. ElBaradei believes that this right allows nation-states to cheat on the obligations of the NPT and withdraw from the treaty when found out. As the global non-proliferation regime, built around the NPT, undergoes a whole series of new strains, the role of the IAEA has emerged as crucial.

India, which has been a founding member of the IAEA, has every reason to welcome the peace prize for the IAEA. While endorsing the growing non-proliferation role of the IAEA, India hopes that the IAEA will also find ways to return to its original, and somewhat forgotten, objective of promoting nuclear energy. The IAEA was set up in 1955 to encourage the developed countries share their nuclear technology with the developing ones. Its role was that of an 8220;atomic Robin Hood8221;. However as the NPT came into force in 1970, the IAEA ceased being the Robin Hood and increasingly opted for the mantle of the 8220;atomic Sheriff8221;. India8217;s political disappointment at the IAEA8217;s recent emphasis on 8220;policing8221; civilian nuclear energy programmes was reflected in Delhi8217;s decision a few years ago to distance itself from some of its programmes on technical assistance for developing countries.

A number of new factors, however, are drawing India and the IAEA together again. One, amidst rising prices of oil and new concerns about global warming, nuclear power is back in the reckoning as a clean source of energy. The international community is trying to prevent potential proliferators of nuclear weapons with attractive offers on civilian nuclear energy cooperation even as new restrictions are placed on national capabilities for making weapons-useable material. As the IAEA begins to re-balance its objectives on policing and promoting nuclear energy, India8217;s own interests in strengthening both the functions of the IAEA have rapidly risen. Under the nuclear pact, signed with the Bush administration, India hopes to regain access to international nuclear energy cooperation. In return it has promised to strengthen global non-proliferation order, through measures like separating its own civilian and military nuclear programmes and signing the so-called 8216;Additional Protocol8217; on safeguards with the IAEA.

As the IAEA is honoured by the Nobel Peace Prize, India is on the verge of redefining its long-standing relationship with this important organisation.