| International Journal | Spring 2010 | 435 | Prashant Hosur is a research assistant at the Institute of Defense Studies and Analysis in New Delhi, and can be reached at prashantsuhas@gmail.com. 1 The Henry J. Hyde US-India peaceful atomic energy cooperation act, 2006, http:// frwebgate.access.gpo.gov. The year 2008 saw a paradigm shift in US foreign policy. The US signed the “123” civilian nuclear agreement (referred to as the nuclear deal or simply the deal) with India, a country that is not a nuclear nonproliferation treaty signatory, has nuclear weapons, and until recently was a nuclear pariah. It is extremely surprising that even many scholars of US foreign policy, let alone the public, have given little attention to this rather historic paradigm shift in US policy on civilian nuclear trade. The US government, on the other hand, has passed the new Hyde act, which facilitates the implementation of the civilian nuclear agreement by exempting India from certain requirements of the atomic energy act of 1954. 1 The deal was signed between Indian and the US government on 1 October 2008 and cleared by the Nuclear Suppliers Group. It gives India access to civilian nuclear technology and is supposed to help the country Prashant Hosur The Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement What’s the big deal?