Nuclear and Chemical Watchdogs or Lapdogs?

Back in 1957, the same year the Soviets put Sputnik — the world’s first artificial satellite — into orbit, and Elvis Presly’s “All Shook Up” hit the top of the Billboard charts, the UN established the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The goal was to promote peaceful uses of atomic energy, provide assistance on nuclear safety, and prevent nuclear materials from getting into the wrong hands.

How has that worked out? FDD Research Fellow Andrea Stricker has taken a hard look at the IAEA and written a chapter about it for FDD’s recently published monograph: “A Better Blueprint for International Organizations.”

Andrea also has been keeping track of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), another UN offspring.

She joins Foreign Podicy host Cliff May — as does FDD Senior Fellow Anthony Ruggiero, who has served on the National Security Council advising the White House on a range of issues including weapons of mass destruction.

Participating in the conversation, too: Richard Goldberg, senior advisor to FDD, who has served in the National Security Council and in both houses of Congress. A senior advisor to FDD, he’s the editor of the monograph on international organizations.

The IAEA flag waves outside of the International Atomic Energy Agency headquarters in Vienna, Austria. (Getty Images)

The OPCW flag waves outside of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons headquarters at The Hague in the Netherlands. (Getty Images)