Global Weapons Proliferation, Disarmament, and Arms Control

Abstract

We are witnessing an unprecedented amount of activity in the area of controlling, limiting, or eliminating various weapons, but achieving the full benefit of these efforts remains elusive. While there is now an extraordinary push to ban nuclear weapons, with the hope of eventually eliminating them, a renewed focus on chemical weapons disarmament, and a recently concluded treaty on the arms trade, all of which promise global security benefits, entrenched national security positions and special interests make the realisation of these goals almost impossible to execute. Global institutional actors are addressing these issues, but achieving consensus among states and a real commitment to abide by agreements reached continue to be difficult. A case in point is the widening rift between nuclear and non-nuclear states, which threatens to derail the non-proliferation treaty. Nevertheless, there are some notable developments which serve to challenge the status quo. The first of these is the increased emphasis being placed on humanitarianism and international law; the second is the seemingly unstoppable march of non-governmental organisations into these debates and their articulation of new directional paths; the third factor is that public oversight of military spending is becoming more widespread, with growing requests for greater transparency and accountability on arms spending. While these are good indicators that change in arms control and disarmament policies is possible, it is unlikely that these goals can be reached without a fundamental reorganization of the current structural imbalances in world politics and the associated institutional agencies.