Nonproliferation Export Control and.

This paper assesses contending theoretical claims regarding state responses to globalization through empirical analysis of nonproliferatione export controls. Globalization theorists claim that technological advances and increased interdependence are bringing about the end of the Westphalian world order of sovereign states. Transgovernmentalists counter that states are disaggregating into their functional components and developing international governance through transnational networks of government regulators. Traditionalists assert the continued relevance and vitality of the state. Export controls lie at the center of this debate, and are a concrete manifestation of states’ efforts to reassert control over borders and boundaries in the face of transnational flows and technological diffusion. Export control regulations face precisely the challenges highlighted by theorists of globalization and world order, and offer a window into the capacity of states to respond to the challenges of globalization. They also constitute a strong test of contending theories. If neomedievalists are correct and the state is being displaced by networks of international institutions and non-state actors, then national export controls should be increasingly inadequate to deal with global technological flows. Export control cooperation occurs through the transgovernmental networks heralded as the basis of the real new world order. And as a policy response to the threat of WMD proliferation, export controls are a crucial test case for realist claims of the continued efficacy of states in managing security threats. This paper will interrogate the claims of these contending theories regarding twenty-first century world order through an empirical analysis of national export control systems and post-Cold War cooperation in multilateral nonproliferation export control regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]