"Nukes for sale cheap?" Purchasing peace with North Korea

What impact can economic incentives have on difficult international security problems, such as nuclear proliferation? This article first discusses theories of the effectiveness of incentives. It then examines the case of the 1994 Agreed Framework accord between the United States and North Korea. It argues that, despite cheating by Pyongyang, the American effort to use incentives in this case was on balance more successful than many now believe, especially in view of the bleak alternatives. If incentives can have an impact in such a "least likely" case, there is reason to believe they could be helpful in resolving other cases of proliferation.