Trust And Compliance: A Study Of Nuclear Policy In Non-Nuclear State Parties To The Treaty On The Non-Proliferation Of Nuclear Weapons

Trust is an important factor which influences the state's compliance behavior. Trust refers to a belief that trustor and trustee tend to cooperate with each other. Compliance means a state that the state's behavior is in consistent with the international institute. According to the motivation of formation, trust can be divided into different categories:distrust based on ideas/trust based on ideas, strategic distrust/trust. These trust categories constitute the trust spectrum, indicating different trust relations and different distrust/trust degree. Different categories of trust relations have different influence on national compliance behavior. States who have distrust based on ideas are in a "zero sum state" and they incline to doubt the credibility of the other party to comply with commitments. Further more this suspicion could become the prophecy of self-fulfilling. States who have trust based on idea have more common interests, and they tend to the other party will keep its commitments. They focus on the influence of the external environment on the other party, and work together to eliminate these effects. Nations who have stragetic distrust/trust are not enemies nor friends, and they forcast the credibility of the other party on the concrete cost benefits, then take appropriate actions.Based on the trust relations, this article divided the non-nuclear nations who ratified the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) into three categories:1. States have distrust based on ideas with the U.S., such as Iraq, North Korea, Libya and Iran. The U.S. has always condemned these nations'violation of NPT, and threatened to take tough measures to them. The attitute of the U.S. has arise the resistance of these nations, and could lead them to violate NPT.2. States who have trust based on ideas with the U.S., for example, the members of Western liberal Security community. These states'safety are protected by the U.S., and their right to develop advanced nuclear is also fully ensured, so they tend to comply with NPT. Except that they also cooperate to prevent nuclear proliferation with the U.S..3. States not belonging to the former two categories. These States may have conflicts with other States, but their security are not seriously threatened. These states tend to comply with NPT after their do with their conflicts. To further illustrate the influence of trust relations on the nuclear policy of the non-nuclear member of NPT, this article selected Iran, Japan and Egypt as case analysis.