This paper attempts to challenge the conventional wisdom on nuclear arms control by conducting a plausibility probe of the respect-seeking model. I conceptualize acceptance of an agent’s status claims as respectful behaviour and the denial thereof as disrespect. I hypothesize that groups who feel that they are granted due respect are more willing to cooperate than others and test the respect model by applying it to the Indian willingness to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). First, I will analyze how New Delhi’s position on the CTBT evolved. Then I will assess whether the administration in New Delhi felt respected by the outreach of the United States, the treaty’s core advocate. In case of a covariance between the (perceived) level of respect paid by the U.S. and India’s willingness to cooperate, the causal relationship of both factors will then be clarified by assessing the causal nexus between both above-mentioned factors. In this connection the influence of the independent on the dependent variable will be analyzed by taking alternative explanations, derived from well-established theories of International Relations into account.
