International Enforcement: the IAEA and the Nonproliferation Regime

Abstract

Why should states delegate enforcement powers to international organizations (IOs)? Even IR scholars who believe international institutions have independent effects upon state behavior generally dismiss the possibility that IOs have the independent power to affect compliance with international agreements. This article argues IOs can reduce the costs of private, decentralized enforcement of international agreements if they possess the autonomy and the capacity to affect the material welfare of states. Studies of enforcement of the nuclear nonproliferation regime with and without the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are used to illustrate how public enforcement contributes to inducing compliance. This finding has clear policy implications for how scholars approach the role of IOs in the structure of international governance.