九一一恐怖攻擊事件後，國際社會在美國引導下，如火如荼地把核子威脅矛頭指向所謂三大「邪惡軸心」─ 北韓、伊朗及伊拉克。國際社會透過核不擴散典則處理核擴散問題，引發吾人思考典則之效果如何，包括典則與核擴散國行為之間的因果關係為何？典則是否為自主變數？影響典則運作的因素有哪些？美國與典則運作之關係如何？本文提出「人面獅身霸權」架構，詮釋美國在小布希主政下如何處理北韓、伊朗及伊拉克之核擴散問題，並歸納出文化霸權、物質霸權及核不擴散典則等變數，對三個核擴散國行為之影響性。

A new era in nuclear nonproliferation was ushered in at the outbreak of the 9/11 terrorist attack. The so-called Axes of Evil – North Korea, Iran, and Iraq –have since been targeted by the United States and others as a nuclear threat. This development poses the question of whether international regimes have a significant impact on addressing nuclear proliferation. This article was encapsulated in the Sphinx metaphor to analyze and explain how and why the nonproliferation regime dealt with the nuclear cases of the three countries. The research found that three variables – cultural hegemony, material hegemony, and nonproliferation regimes – are necessary to analyze the responses from targeted nations.