The 2001 UN Conference: A Useful Step Forward?

In: SAIS Review, Band 22, Heft 1, S. 195-201

Abstract

The question of whether the 2001 UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms & Light Weapons in All Its Aspects produced a viable plan of action for controlling the international proliferation & flow of small arms & light weapons is addressed. Various problems that have hindered the establishment of an international body dedicated to restraining the spread of small arms are discussed; consequently, the need to adopt a framework agreement approach to creating such a regime is stressed. The principal accomplishments of the conference are then examined, eg, reaching agreement on how small arms should be marked, recorded, & traced. It is contended that follow-up negotiations must strive to create an international mechanism capable of tracing weapons flows from different nations in order to increase such countries' accountability. After introducing guidelines for responsibly transferring small arms at the international level, several factors that may prevent certain nations, especially the US, from implementing the conference's plan are noted. J. W. Parker