Unit 4 AOS 1: Key Knowledge (Arms Control)

Question 1

Ethics

Answer 1

• Involved in creating international law
• A process of deliberation/decision-making taking morals into account
• Based on frameworks of realism and cosmopolitanism

Question 2

Justice

Answer 2

• Application of international law (seeks to apply ethics)
• Functions through IGOs and courts
• Doesn’t just consider moral quandaries, also wants to rectify injustice and restore, rehabilitate, repair
• Seeks punishment or compensation when breached

Question 3

International Law

Answer 3

• Customary Law is seen as binding on all global actors, and universal.
  Eg. UNSC Resolution, Geneva Conventions
• Written legal agreements like treaties are only binding on those who accept them through explicit ratification.
  Eg. JCPOA, NPT, TPNW, ATT, Declarations, Conventions

Question 4

NPT

Answer 4

Entered into force: 5th March 1970
Signatories: 191 (including Taiwan, the Holy See and Palestine)

• 5 states that are not signatories are North Korea (left in 2003), India, Israel, Pakistan and South Sudan
• 5 nuclear-weapon states (NWS): USA, China, Russia, France, UK (those that have built and tested a nuclear explosive device before the 1st of January 1967)
• While the NWS are meant to pursue nuclear disarmament (“should not build and maintain such weapons in perpetuity”) they still have a combined 13,400 warheads in their stockpile
• When created, it was estimated that there would be 25-30 nuclear weapon states within 20 years. Instead, over 40 years later, only four additional states are believed to possess nuclear weapons
• Enforced through IAEA and UNSC

Question 5

NPT - Aims

Answer 5

 To prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology
 To promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy
 To further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament

Question 6

NPT - Case Study

Answer 6

North Korea
- North Korea conducting ICBM tests in 2017, with a successful test of the Hwasong-15
- 2017 UN Resolutions 2371, 2375 and 2397 ban all exports of coal, iron, lead, seafood, textiles, oil, gas and North Koreans from working in other countries
- In 2022, Kim vowed to “strengthen and develop” its nuclear forces at the “highest possible” speed
- Suspected ICBM tests in 2022

Question 7

TPNW

Answer 7

Entered into force: 22nd January 2021
Signatories: 86 signatories, 66 state parties
- Created through UNGA resolution #71/258
- All 5 NPT nuclear-weapon states are not signatories (they would be required to pursue disarmament if they became a signatory)

Question 8

TPNW - Aims

Answer 8

 To build a nuclear weapon-free world
 Eliminate all nuclear weapons in the world and define all nuclear weapons as illegal arms

Question 9

TPNW - Case Study

Answer 9

• Nuclear-weapon states not signing

United States
“We do not support the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Seeking to ban nuclear weapons through a treaty that does not include any of the countries that actually possess nuclear weapons is not likely to produce any results.” – US Secretary of state, Anthony Blinken, December 2021

Question 10

CWC

Answer 10

Entered into force: 29th April 1997
Signatories: 193 state parties (Egypt, North Korea, South Sudan are not signatories)
- Administered by the IGO, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)
- As of February 2021, 98.39% of the world’s declared chemical weapons stockpiles had been destroyed under the auspices of the CWC

Question 11

CWC - Aims

Answer 11

 To eliminate an entire category of weapons of mass destruction by prohibiting the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, retention, transfer or use of chemical weapons
 To prevent suffering caused to people by use of chemical weapons

Question 12

CWC - Case Study

Answer 12

Syria
- 2013 Ghouta attacks by the Syrian Gov’t, killing 1400 people (sarin gas rockets)
- Syria joined CWC in 2013 after condemnation of Ghouta attacks
- 2017 Khan Shaykhun attacks by the Syrian Gov’t killed 89 people (sarin gas)
- In response the US unilaterally launched 59 cruise missiles at Shayrat Air Base (which they held was responsible for the attack), killing nine
- 2018 Douma attack, killed 40
- In June 2018, the OPCW reported that Syria had not fully declared nor destroyed its entire chemical weapons stockpiles
- In 2021, a conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) adopted a decision to suspend certain rights and privileges of Syria under the Convention

Question 13

Debate - Differing approaches regarding non-state proliferation

Answer 13

Proliferation (Realism?)
- How could groups benefit from acquiring weapons?
- A deregulated arms market and insecure weapons stockpiles are opportunities

Versus

Non-Proliferation (Cosmopolitanism)
- Any global actor or person concerned with weapons falling into the wrong hands
- Seeks to keep deadly weapons from proliferating amongst dangerous non-state actors like terrorist group
- Requires a degree of international cooperation to address the worldwide arsenals at risk, or the dissemination of weapons through the global arms trade

Question 14

Differing approaches regarding non-state proliferation - Example

Answer 14

Islamic State
- Seeks to procure any kind of weapons (conventional and unconventional) in the furtherance of its aims
- ‘Decades of free-flowing arms into Iraq meant that when IS took control of these areas, they were like children in a sweetshop’ - Oliver Sprague, Arms Programme Director at Amnesty International

and

UNSC Resolution #2325
- Focused on keeping weapons of mass destruction out of the hands of terrorists and other non-state groups
- Called on states to strengthen national anti-proliferation regimes and to submit timely reports on their efforts
- “Preventing non-State actors from acquiring and using weapons of mass destruction is among the most important responsibilities of the international community.” UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson

Question 15

Debate - International security versus state security

Answer 15

International security (Cosmopolitanism)
- Refers to the stability and security of the international community taken as a whole
- Seeks to create multilateral frameworks and uphold internationals laws on arms control

Versus

State security (Realism)
- Refers to the ability and sovereign right of a state to enhance its security
- Acquisition of weapons to deter any would be aggressors

Question 16

International security versus state security - Examples

Answer 16

North Korea is guided by state security as possession of nuclear devices act as a deterrent
(Successful testing of its Hwasong-15 missile in 2017)

and

United States is guided by international security when it has called for complete “denuclearisation” of the Korean Peninsula
(Voted for UNSC Resolution #2397 which sanctioned and capped North Korea’s oil imports)

Question 17

Debate - Arms control versus disarmament

Answer 17

Arms control (Realism)
- Refers to the regulation in distribution, proliferation, possession and use of weapons in the international sphere
- Concedes that weapons are a reality and that they are best controlled rather than destroyed

versus

Disarmament (Cosmopolitanism)
- Ambitious goal of destroying entire categories of weapons
- Requires all states and NSAs to give up their stockpiles, development programs and some argue their security

Question 18

Arms control versus disarmament - Examples

Answer 18

NPT v TPNW
- NPT nuclear-weapons states prioritise their own interests and right to deterrence
- Collectively they have 13,400 warheads
- NWS are legally able to possess weapons while other states are punished, their interests are prioritised
- TPNW aims for complete disarmament, stigmatise ownership of nuclear weapons
- “a critical step towards making that nuclear-weapon-free future a reality” - ICAN

Question 19

Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)

Answer 19

• Signed July 2015 (Iran, P5, Germany and the EU)
• Iran agreed to dismantle much of its nuclear program and open its facilities to more extensive international inspections in exchange for billions of dollars’ worth of sanctions relief
• Limited the number of centrifuges, level of enrichments and uranium enriched stockpile
• Former US President Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018, claiming it failed to curtail Iran’s missile program and regional influence
• Iran began ignoring limitations on its nuclear program a year later, breached its 300kg limit
• June 2022, started to remove 27 surveillance cameras from nuclear sites
• Described as a “serious challenge” to its efforts by Rafael Grossi, Director general of the IAEA

Question 20

CWC - Enforcement Mechanisms

Answer 20

• OPCW monitor and enforce the CWC under article X of the convention. They conduct investigations on alleged use and have the power to take emergency measures of assistance. They cannot impose their own sanctions but rather refer cases to nation’s where the attack occurred or to bodies such as the UN
  Eg. OPCW Fact-Finding Mission Confirms Use of Chemical Weapons in Khan Shaykhun on 4 April 2017
• UNGA and UNSC can impose measures on states that have been found violating the CWC and can pass resolutions
  Eg. UNSC Resolution #2118 called for the eradication of Syria’s chemical weapons after Syria’s 2013 Ghouta attacks