The Nuclear Arms Control Index (NACI): A dataset on the design of the nuclear regime complex
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Scholarship on legalization and nuclear proliferation often relies on aggregate measures of institutional design that obscure variation across provisions. We introduce the Nuclear Arms Control Index (NACI), a dataset of 91 nuclear arms control and nonproliferation instruments (1945–2025), and an original nuclear weapons capability life-cycle framework that categorizes the different stages of nuclear control. NACI codes 53 variables capturing life-cycle stages and additional institutional design features across instruments and time. Clause-level indicators are generated through a large language model-assisted, application programming interface-based analysis of the full treaty corpus and then adjudicated and verified by the authors. We illustrate three empirical applications by showing associations between life-cycle indicators and entry into force, replicating Kreps to disaggregate legalization measures into treaty-specific components associated with arms control cooperation, and replicating Katagiri to replace the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons membership with design-level provisions. These applications show how NACI enables provision-level research on the design of nuclear arms control.
Authors: Bo Won Kim, Saera Lee
Institutions: The University of Texas at Arlington, University of Hong Kong
Language: English
Topic: Nuclear Issues and Defense
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,650
OpenAlex ID: W7225348020