Understanding Pakistan's Nuclear Security Regime.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 there has been renewed attention on the security and protection of civilian nuclear infrastructure. This has been a longstanding issue in Pakistan, where the security of the country's nuclear estate has attracted considerable international attention for decades. However, rather than looking at Pakistan's civilian estate, assessments have instead prioritised the security of the country's nuclear arsenal. They have also been widely divergent: Western analysts have raised serious concerns over Pakistan's ability to secure sensitive nuclear materials, the country's domestic instability and its poor non-proliferation history. In contrast Pakistani officials downplay these risks, and point to various programmes of reform. Against this backdrop, this article reviews the available literature on Pakistan's civilian nuclear security regime and provides new insights by benchmarking developments against key elements of IAEA guidance. It concludes that Pakistan's civilian nuclear security regime is largely consistent with accepted international principles and approaches, although there are still areas where improvements in transparency would help the completeness of available information and the external evaluation of the country's regime. The paper also identifies several areas where improvements could be made, most notably in the promotion of cyber security and nuclear security culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]