Critical Junctures, Developmental Pathways, and Incremental Change in Security Institutions

Solingen, Etel; Wan, Wilfred

doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199662814.013.33

Cited by 47 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Later HI approaches have expanded the methodology further, making "historiographical modes of inquiry, counterfactual analysis, and process tracing" the hallmarks of the discipline (Fioretos, Falleti, and Sheingate 2016, 25). In the 2010s HI began rising in prominence and numerous scholars have been successfully applying it in IR research (Fioretos 2017;Solingen and Wan 2016;Zürn 2016).…”

Section: Historical Institutionalism: History Practice and Applicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atoms for Climate: Institutional development, critical junctures, and the IAEA’s positioning and communication on nuclear energy and climate change

Backovsky¹

2023

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This research thesis puts forward an account of why the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) suddenly intensified its communication and positioning policy in favor of nuclear energy as a climate change solution since 2019. The case shows how the interpretation and implementation of international organizations’ (IOs) mandates develops in response to climate change and other exogenous and endogenous shocks. Borrowing heavily from historical institutionalist (HI) accounts I argue that the case represents a critical juncture, a period of temporary institutional and political flux at the IAEA caused by ideational changes, shocks and their exploitation by powerful and entrepreneurial actors who want to enact institutional change. The leadership of the IAEA faces constant contestation of its dual mandate to simultaneously safeguard and advance the peaceful uses of the atom and must be careful about maintaining its status as an ‘honest broker’ to maintain legitimacy and authority. The case study shows that publicly visible shocks like nuclear power plant accidents, such as the 1986 Chernobyl or 2011 Fukushima-Daiichi incidents have suppressive impacts on the Agency’s policy. Climate change, on the other hand, presents a legitimate opportunity for the Agency to execute its promotional mandate. Within this context the empirical evidence shows that it the sudden leadership change at the IAEA in 2019 generated the enabling conditions necessary for the policy outcome.

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Section: Historical Institutionalism: History Practice and Applicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atoms for Climate: Institutional development, critical junctures, and the IAEA’s positioning and communication on nuclear energy and climate change

Backovsky¹

2023

Preprint

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“…This lack of crossover has also afflicted international security studies(Solingen and Wan 2016) Reyntjens (2020). is also exceptional in taking a critical junctures approach to examining the interaction of interstate and civil conflict in Africa.…”

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confidence: 99%

Civil Wars as Critical Junctures: Theoretical Grounding and Empirical Applications

Thaler

2022

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Civil wars are not only destructive: they can also give birth to new, long-lasting social, political, and economic structures and processes. I argue that we should in fact view civil wars as critical junctures. Civil wars relax structural constraints, opening opportunities for changes generated by wartime processes, while war's end can lock in these changes, creating path dependency. Government victory may foreclose change (critical junctures do not necessarily lead to transformation), but governments can also make lasting reforms in response to conflicts. Rebel victory has major potential for statebuilding and societal transformation, while negotiated settlements can institutionalize a new balance of domestic political power. I illustrate the benefits of a critical junctures approach to civil wars in the literature on wartime and postwar women’s empowerment, and I discuss how a critical junctures framework may prove useful for civil war studies employing methods beyond comparative historical analysis.

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North Korea and the Global Nuclear Order

Howell

2023

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For a state that has gained a global reputation as a violator of international norms, not least through its unwavering pursuit of nuclear weapons, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s determination to become a nuclear-armed state is puzzling. If nuclear weapons can beget security but also insecurity—as well as other costs—for the state, how might we understand this pursuit, and the delinquent behaviour that has arisen from it? This book will offer an answer to these questions, focusing on North Korea’s quest for status in international relations and developing the theoretical framework of ‘strategic delinquency’. Drawing upon unprecedentedly rich empirical evidence, this book makes the overarching argument that North Korea has strategically deployed behaviour that breaks international norms, and induced low status, in order reap benefits. In so doing, this book posits that North Korea has, over time, learnt that despite the low status and opprobrium that might ensue from delinquent behaviour, bad behaviour can pay.

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Critical Junctures, Developmental Pathways, and Incremental Change in Security Institutions

Cited by 47 publications

References 17 publications

Atoms for Climate: Institutional development, critical junctures, and the IAEA’s positioning and communication on nuclear energy and climate change

Atoms for Climate: Institutional development, critical junctures, and the IAEA’s positioning and communication on nuclear energy and climate change

Civil Wars as Critical Junctures: Theoretical Grounding and Empirical Applications

North Korea and the Global Nuclear Order

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