Negotiations over the use and regulation of military armaments have been a part of the political landscape for as long as weapons have been used in battle. Ever since their first use in the World War II bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, however, nuclear weapons have been at the forefront of policy-making decisions around the world. With the Cold War’s recent conclusion, the nuclear threat has shifted from the competition between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union to the proliferation of nuclear weapons throughout the globe. Currently, more than forty nations have nuclear capabilities. The threat from global rivalries and conflicts is therefore more ominous than ever – a threat that is exacerbated by a concomitant proliferation of both chemical and biological weapons. The need to regulate and reverse this trend is of paramount concern among the international community.

In 1996, the United Nation’s General Assembly overwhelmingly approved the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. The treaty seeks to end testing of nuclear weaponry by creating an International Monitoring System (IMS) to detect suspicious activity around the world. The treaty, however, remains ineffective until each of the forty-four nuclear-capable countries ratifies the document. And this unanimity is extremely difficult to achieve. India, for example, which possesses a relatively significant nuclear capability, has declared that it will never become a signatory to the treaty.

Other issues of disarmament include the illicit traffic in small arms, light weapons, and weapons-related technologies, chemical and biological weapons. One of the primary and most recognized organizations working to solidify an international movement for arms control, peace and disarmament is the United Nations liaison, the NGO Committee on Disarmament. All issues related to disarmament must navigate a very fine line between the autonomous weapons-policies of each individual state, and the internationally established guidelines established by the UN, and other multi-national governance and non-governmental bodies.

Sources: The United Nations