The commitment to disarmament has been an enduring feature of the UN Charter order however progress towards the UN’s goal of general and complete disarmament has met numerous challenges and, more recently, appeared to falter in the face of renewed military tensions and global power rivalries. This subject will equip students with the necessary legal, historical and analytical tools to reflect critically on the issues of disarmament which pose an existential threat to life on Earth and which cut across multiple other areas of legal study and global concern (including the environment, global public health, race, and inequality). This subject examines the progress towards disarmament, a fundamental pillar of the UN Charter order said to underpin the peaceful settlement of disputes and the avoidance of military conflict. Throughout the UN Charter era the scope, definition, and goals of disarmament have been the subject of perpetual struggle with a range of relevant actors – including states, international organisations, companies, and ‘civil society’ groups – influencing the process and ambitions of weapons regulation and disarmament. Yet despite this wide range of diverse actors, legal doctrine and orthodox accounts continue to focus attention on inter-state initiatives and, in particular, ‘great power’ actions. This subject offers a broader analysis, taking a theoretically and historically engaged approach to assessing the development and prospects of progress towards disarmament.
Principal topics are likely to include:
• Introduction to issues of weapons, disarmament, and international law. How is disarmament defined? What are the goals of disarmament? What threats is disarmament meant to address, and how? • Histories of weapons regulation and disarmament in international law charting late 19th century efforts, the League of Nations, and the early UN Charter and revolutionary decolonisation era. • Legal frameworks in disarmament law including weapons prohibitions, regulation, and non-proliferation. • Major milestones. How were they achieved, who were the relevant actors, and what have been the effects? e.g. test bans, Nuclear Free Zones, etc. • WMD focus: the non-proliferation regime (NPT) as case study. How is proliferation risk policed/managed? What are the features of this form of disarmament? How are the goals of disarmament served by the NPT regime? • WMD focus: the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). What is the history of the TPNW? How does it seek to achieve the goals of disarmament? Who are the relevant actors? How does it relate to the NPT regime? • The future of disarmament for international law. Where to now? How, and by whom?