Nuclear strategies and sanctions topic of new UCI study

UC Irvine political scientist Etel Solingen has been awarded a $50,000 grant from the Carnegie Corp. to examine the effects of positive and negative inducements on preventing nuclear proliferation. The research is timely in light of the debate over Iran’s nuclear policy. Last weekend, diplomats from six countries, including the United States, met with Iran to propose an incentive-laced package that, if accepted, could lead to a suspension of the country’s uranium enrichment program. By studying which actions have discouraged other nations’ nuclear development, Solingen hopes to contribute to successful nonproliferation policy. Some preliminary results of her study will be released in 2009, before the crucial 2010 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.