© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���5 | doi � �. ��63/�57�8069-� �34�306 International Negotiation �0 (�0 �5) � �8–�4 � brill.com/iner The Triumph of Agency over Structure: Shimon Peres and the Israeli Nuclear Program Guy Ziv1 School of International Service, American University, 4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20016-8071, USA (E-mail: ziv@american.edu) Received 21 September 2013; accepted 15 June 2014 Abstract This article advances the proposition that when the negotiator is empowered to reach an agreement on behalf of his or her government, agency has the potential to triumph over structure. The negotiator whose personal attributes include flexibility, sensitivity, inventiveness, tenacity and patience is more likely to meet this potential. Shimon Peres, the director-general of Israel’s Ministry of Defense in the mid-1950s, possessed many of these traits. He was also given virtually free rein by Prime Minister and Defense Minister David Ben-Gurion to pursue negotiations with France over the acquisition of a nuclear reactor. Despite significant structural hurdles – financial dif- ficulties, domestic opposition, U.S. disapproval, and an unstable and divided French Fourth Republic – Peres’s unorthodox diplomacy allowed Israel to become a nuclear power. This case highlights the oft-overlooked role of agency in political science, in general, and in international negotiations, in particular. 1 Guy Ziv is an assistant professor at American University’s School of International Service. His current research focuses on foreign policy decision-making and foreign policy change, the influence of think tanks in U.S. foreign policy, and the role of political elites in Israeli- Palestinian peacemaking. The author thanks Laura Cutler, Mohammed M. Hafez, Jonathan Pearl, and Shibley Telhami for their helpful suggestions. The author is also grateful to Bertram I. Spector and the other editors and anonymous reviewers at International Negotiation for their constructive comments. An earlier version of this article was presented at the 2013 annual meeting of the Association for Israel Studies in Los Angeles, California.