The IAEA History Research Project

The IAEA History Research Project is based at the University of Vienna's Department of History and directed by Elisabeth Roehrlich. The project was originally launched in 2011 by Elisabeth Roehrlich and Oliver Rathkolb at the University of Vienna's Department of Contemporary History. Since then it has served as an umbrella for different individual research activities on the history of the IAEA. 

The project aims to establish international research dialogue among scholars in the field and provide insight into a unique international organization. Over the past decade, the project has hosted several guest researchers from across the world. Using historical insights based on multi-archival research and oral history interviews, the project seeks to inform the debate on the IAEA’s past, present, and future role in global governance.

Oral History Series

The IAEA History Research Project's Oral History Series comprises interviews with former IAEA senior officials, managers, scientists, and diplomats, including former Director Generals Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei. Its mission is to contribute to an enhanced understanding of the IAEA's role, preserve the organization's institutional memory, and to serve as a key resource for policymakers, academics, and the interested public. The project has been made possible by support from the Austrian Central Bank (Jubilaeumsfonds der Oesterreichischen Nationalbank) and the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

(Watch the oral history interviews here).

The Creation of the IAEA, 1953-1957

On 8 December 1953, United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed the creation of an international atomic agency that would promote the peaceful uses of nuclear technology in agriculture, medicine, and power generation, while providing humanity protection from the perils of nuclear weapons proliferation (watch Eisenhower's "Atoms for Peace" speech here). Understanding the creation of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has great significance for the study of global governance and the history of international organizations. Created at a time of the intense global tensions precipitated by the Cold War, the establishment of the IAEA stands out as a great success in international cooperation. From looking at the creation of the IAEA through this lens, the project provides a substantive addition to literature on the history of the Cold War, international nuclear history, and the history of international organizations. A multiyear grant from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) was dedicated to the study of this crucial period in the history of international nuclear order (2015-2018). Find out more about the creation of the IAEA here.

© Copyright pictures: IAEA Imagebank.