Unilateral disarmament

Last updated

Unilateral disarmament is a policy option, to renounce weapons without seeking equivalent concessions from one's actual or potential rivals. It was most commonly used in the twentieth century in the context of unilateral nuclear disarmament , a recurrent objective of peace movements in countries such as the United Kingdom.

Contents

Nations do not often choose to dismantle their entire military capability. Unilateral disarmament is usually sought in one technical competency, such as weapons of mass destruction. Non-violent political movements from that of Mahatma Gandhi [1] to the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament have recommended unilateral disarmament as a step toward world peace.

Unilateral nuclear disarmament could also happen were a series of cascading failures to occur. For example loss of expertise, inability to finance, recapitalize and maintain the existing nuclear capability. Procrastination and neglect of existing nuclear weapon platforms and infrastructure to such an extent that a nation is unable to reconstitute its nuclear capability in time before portions of the system(s) begin to break down. Where that nation's nuclear deterrence then becomes questionable and uncertain. [2]

By country

Costa Rica

The only recent candidate for having performed an act of complete disarmament is Costa Rica, which unilaterally disarmed and demilitarized itself in 1948, [3] writing its non-military status into its constitution in 1949. [4] In a public ceremony to mark the occasion, the existing Commander-in-Chief handed the keys to Army HQ to the Minister of Education, for use as a school. Since that time, Costa Rica has been briefly invaded once, by Nicaragua, but has maintained its territorial integrity.

United States

Although former US President Richard Nixon expressly denounced unilateral disarmament in 1969, [5] Nixon's unilateral discontinuation of biological weapons development in 1972 is often characterized as a "unilateral disarmament". [6]

South Africa

South Africa voluntarily gave up its nuclear weapons programme after the end of apartheid. [7]

Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine

Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine inherited nuclear weapons from the Soviet Union that were deployed in their territories. The three countries voluntarily gave up the weapons in 1996 after the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States assured these three countries that they will not threaten or use military force or economic coercion against them through the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances. [8] Russia broke the assurance by annexing Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and launching a full scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Related Research Articles

Arms control is a term for international restrictions upon the development, production, stockpiling, proliferation and usage of small arms, conventional weapons, and weapons of mass destruction. Arms control is typically exercised through the use of diplomacy which seeks to impose such limitations upon consenting participants through international treaties and agreements, although it may also comprise efforts by a nation or group of nations to enforce limitations upon a non-consenting country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weapon of mass destruction</span> Weapon that can kill many people or cause great damage

A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to numerous individuals or cause great damage to artificial structures, natural structures, or the biosphere. The scope and usage of the term has evolved and been disputed, often signifying more politically than technically. Originally coined in reference to aerial bombing with chemical explosives during World War II, it has later come to refer to large-scale weaponry of warfare-related technologies, such as chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear warfare.

United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) was an inspection regime created by the United Nations to ensure Iraq's compliance with policies concerning Iraqi production and use of weapons of mass destruction after the Gulf War. Between 1991 and 1997 its director was Rolf Ekéus; from 1997 to 1999 its director was Richard Butler.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biological Weapons Convention</span> 1975 treaty that comprehensively bans biological weapons

The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), or Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC), is a disarmament treaty that effectively bans biological and toxin weapons by prohibiting their development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling and use. The treaty's full name is the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conference on Disarmament</span> Multilateral disarmament forum

The Conference on Disarmament (CD) is a multilateral disarmament forum established by the international community to negotiate arms control and disarmament agreements based at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. The Conference meets annually in three separate sessions in Geneva.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russia and weapons of mass destruction</span>

The Russian Federation is known to possess or have possessed three types of weapons of mass destruction: nuclear weapons, biological weapons, and chemical weapons. It is one of the five nuclear-weapon states recognized under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nunn–Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction</span> US initiative to reduce risk stemming from former USSR republics nuclear weapons

As the collapse of the Soviet Union appeared imminent, the United States and their NATO allies grew concerned of the risk of nuclear weapons held in the Soviet republics falling into enemy hands. The Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program was initiated by the Nunn–Lugar Act, which was authored and cosponsored by Sens. Sam Nunn (D-GA) and Richard Lugar (R-IN). According to the CTR website, the purpose of the CTR Program was originally "to secure and dismantle weapons of mass destruction and their associated infrastructure in former Soviet Union states." As the peace dividend grew old, an alternative 2009 explanation of the program was "to secure and dismantle weapons of mass destruction in states of the former Soviet Union and beyond". The CTR program funds have been disbursed since 1997 by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation</span> U.S. State Department division

The Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation (ISN) is a bureau within the United States Department of State responsible for managing a broad range of nonproliferation and counterproliferation functions. The bureau leads U.S. efforts to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems.

The United States biological weapons program officially began in spring 1943 on orders from U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt. Research continued following World War II as the U.S. built up a large stockpile of biological agents and weapons. Over the course of its 27-year history, the program weaponized and stockpiled the following seven bio-agents :

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albania and weapons of mass destruction</span>

Albania once possessed a stockpile of weapons of mass destruction. This stockpile of chemical weapons included 16,678 kilograms (36,769 lb) of mustard gas, lewisite, adamsite, and phenacyl chloride (chloroacetophenone).

This article deals with activities of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, specifically dealing with arms control, weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and weapons proliferation. It attempts to look at the process of tasking and analyzing, rather than the problem itself, other than whether the CIA's efforts match its legal mandate or assists in treaty compliance. In some cases, the details of a country's programs are introduced because they present a problem in analysis. For example, if Country X's policymakers truly believe in certain history that may not actually be factual, an analyst trying to understand Country X's policymakers needs to be able to understand their approach to an issue.

The "nuclear umbrella" is a guarantee by a nuclear weapons state to defend a non-nuclear allied state. The context is usually the security alliances of the United States with Japan, South Korea, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Those alliances were formed because of the Cold War and the Soviet Union. For some countries, it was an alternative to acquiring nuclear weapons themselves; other alternatives include regional nuclear-weapon-free zones or nuclear sharing.

A nuclear weapons convention is a proposed multilateral treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. This might include prohibitions on the possession, development, testing, production, stockpiling, transfer, use and threat of use of nuclear weapons, such as those in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, along with provisions for their verified elimination. It could be similar to existing conventions outlawing other categories of weapons, such as biological weapons, chemical weapons, anti-personnel mines and cluster bombs.

The "Statement on Chemical and Biological Defense Policies and Programs" was a speech delivered on November 25, 1969, by U.S. President Richard Nixon. In the speech, Nixon announced the end of the U.S. offensive biological weapons program and reaffirmed a no-first-use policy for chemical weapons. The statement excluded toxins, herbicides and riot-control agents as they were not chemical and biological weapons, though herbicides and toxins were both later banned. The decision to ban biological weapons was influenced by a number of domestic and international issues.

The 13 steps are identified in a paragraph of the Final Document of the 2000 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, providing a set of 'practical steps for the systematic and progressive efforts to implement Article VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons'. Article VI is the part of the Treaty that provides for disarmament, including nuclear disarmament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ukraine and weapons of mass destruction</span>

Ukraine, a republic of the former Union of Socialist Soviet Republics (USSR) from 1922–1991, once hosted Soviet nuclear weapons and delivery systems on its territory. Together with Russia, Ukraine was a part of the former Soviet Union but its population voted overwhelmingly for independence in 1991, which ended any realistic chance of the Soviet Union staying together even on a limited scale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Budapest Memorandum</span> 1994 OSCE conference agreements

The Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances comprises three substantially identical political agreements signed at the OSCE conference in Budapest, Hungary, on 5 December 1994, to provide security assurances by its signatories relating to the accession of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). The three memoranda were originally signed by three nuclear powers: the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States. China and France gave somewhat weaker individual assurances in separate documents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soviet Nuclear Threat Reduction Act of 1991</span>

Soviet Nuclear Threat Reduction Act of 1991, 22 U.S.C. § 2551, was chartered to amend the Arms Export Control Act enacting the transfer of Soviet military armaments and ordnances to NATO marking the conclusion of the Cold War. The Act sanctions the Soviet nuclear arsenal displacement shall be in conjunction with the implementation of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe. It funds the Nunn–Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons</span> Legally binding international agreement to prohibit nuclear weapons

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), or the Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty, is the first legally binding international agreement to comprehensively prohibit nuclear weapons with the ultimate goal being their total elimination. It was adopted on 7 July 2017, opened for signature on 20 September 2017, and entered into force on 22 January 2021.

New physical principles weapons are a wide range of weapons or systems created using emerging technologies, like wave, psychophysical, and genetic weapons.

References

  1. ↑ Anil Dutta Mishra (2002). Rediscovering Gandhi. Mittal Publications. p. 72. ISBN   978-81-7099-836-5.
  2. ↑ "Subcommittee on Strategic Forces Hearing: "Strategic Forces Posture Hearing"". 27 February 2020.
  3. ↑ Matthew Bolton, Pace University (19 May 2015). "Event: General and complete disarmament" (PDF). NPT News in Review. 13 (13): 10. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  4. ↑ Tanisha Ellis Hayles (2 March 2014). "Costa Rica — a country withoutan army and proud of it - Columns". Jamaica Observer. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  5. ↑ "Nixon says U.S. defences to stay strong; no one-sided disarmament". The Bryan Times. Colorado Springs: United Press International. 4 June 1969. p. 1. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  6. ↑ Eric Croddy (27 June 2011). Chemical and Biological Warfare: A Comprehensive Survey for the Concerned Citizen. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 31. ISBN   978-1-4613-0025-0.
  7. ↑ Purkitt, Helen E.; Burgess, Stephen F. (2005). South Africa's weapons of mass destruction. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
  8. ↑ Harahan, Joseph P. (2014). "With Courage and Persistence: Eliminating and Securing Weapons of Mass Destruction with the Nunn-Luger Cooperative Threat Reduction Programs" (PDF). DTRA History Series. Defense Threat Reduction Agency. pp. 101–134, 186. ASIN   B01LYEJ56H. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 February 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.