Trust in Nuclear Worlds

Multidisciplinary Approaches to Trust

Trust is basic to all society. In the words of the political theorist John Dunn, ‘The question of whom to trust and how far is as central a question of political life as it is of personal life’ (1993: 641). Trust and distrust are themes in relationships between individuals and groups that produce fruitful or pernicious consequences in international politics when governments are confronted with inescapable uncertainties about the motives and intentions of others. Given the centrality of trust to peaceful interstate relations, it is surprising that it has been neglected as a concept within the fields of International Relations (key exceptions are Larson 1997a+b; Adler and Barnett 1998; Kydd 2000, 2001, 2005; Hoffman 2006; Booth and Wheeler 2008) and Peace Research (key exceptions are Deutsch 1958; Kelman 2005).

There is a rich literature on trust in other fields – notably Philosophy, Sociology, and Psychology, but just as the disciplines of International Relations and Peace Research have neglected the concept of trust, those scholars who have addressed trust in these other fields have not considered the relevance of their work to building trust at the international level. There has been some borrowing from this research in the writings of the International Relations theorists and Peace Researchers listed above, but this has not embraced the full range of disciplinary possibilities. Building on these foundations, the DDMI’s Trust-Building in Nuclear Worlds project is exploring the possibilities for developing an interdisciplinary approach to trust-building that can be applied to the practical challenge of building trust between nuclear (and potential nuclear) adversaries, and to strengthening the foundations of the global nuclear order.

The 'Trust in World Politics' Reading and Discussion Group

A key vehicle in developing an interdisciplinary approach to trust-building is the Reading and Discussion Group. The Group was established at Aberystwyth University in the autumn of 2007 and meets on a regular basis during term time to discuss readings by different researchers working on trust. It also provides a forum for doctoral and post-doctoral students working on trust/distrust to present ideas from their research. Additionally, the group has a visiting speaker programme, and organises seminars which brings together researchers working on trust from a range of disciplines.

The group is open to all and for further details, please contact the convenor Jan Ruzicka jlr@aber.ac.uk.