The role of expertise in shaping politics of nuclear knowledge. A case study of think tanks.

Weapons of mass destruction, in particular nuclear arms, pose a significant threat to global and human security. A human-centred approach towards outlawing these weapons was advocated by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) in cooperation with like-minded states and international organizations. This resulted in the adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of the Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) and its entry into force in January 2021, which constitutes an important milestone in nuclear disarmament. The existing research on nuclear disarmament extensively covers the TPNW and its transformative role regarding changing of norms, narratives and discourses, as well as the role of the ICAN and grassroots activism. However, less is known about the role of expertise by experts, think tanks, scholars. In particular, we know little about the relationship between these actors and states with respect to the production of such norms and regarding nuclear policy knowledge in general. Case studies on think tanks in Austria and Germany allow us to address the research gap on the role of expertise and impact of external along with internal factors on nuclear knowledge production. A qualitative inquiry employs in-depth semi-structured interviews with the leadership of experts from 6 think tanks in these two countries. Guided by the building blocks paradigm, this comparative study regards nuclear disarmament from the perspective of positive peace. The transformative research approach allows the construction of new thought patterns related to knowledge production, in this case in the field of nuclear disarmament. The findings of this empirical cross-nations research contribute to scholarship on nuclear weapons, European studies, the politics of knowledge and peace research. Keywords: nuclear disarmament, expertise, think tanks, nuclear weapons, transformative research, politics of knowledge