DISARMAMENT – QUESTION OF ARMS TRADE DURING PERIODS OF
POLITICAL UNREST
I.
Introduction of Topic:
Arms Trade has enabled oppressive regimes to rule over people, repressing
political opponents, and have let crime and civilian terror run rampant in these areas.
The lack of control on arms trade for much of human history has allowed arms to flow
into these areas of unrest, catalyzing human rights abuses. When arms and their
ammunition continue to flow into areas of political unrest, the conflict can continue
and the area becomes dangerous for any international agents –such as peacekeepers –
who enter the region with the intention of stabilizing it.
Estimates put the global arms expenditure at over $1.5 trillion, making it one of
the largest industries in the world, spreading from small arms to heavy machinery to
the aerospace industry. With the size of the industry comes massive employment
opportunities and a large connection with individual nation’s economy. The modern
global arms trade between states emerged in the latter half of the 19th century, when
many smaller nations found themselves lacking the capacity to keep up with larger
nations in weapons production, so they contracted weapons production to foreign
firms. The largest exporters of arms are the P-5 –accounting for 78% of arms sales
from 2004-2011. These five are also the largest spenders on arms, with the United
States leading the charts spending more on arms than the rest of the G-8 (including the
suspended Russia) and China, combined. State trades do deal with international
sanctions and most nations control their exports to other nations, but there still is quite
a bit that can end up in the wrong hands. The largest importers of arms come from the
developing world, the market of three-quarters of all worldwide arms sales.
Grey arms markets are also commonly created, whereby a legal transaction
occurs, but then the receiving party then shifts the weapons to a different destination,
where now the weapons may offend forms of international law.
The arms industry also has a considerable share in the private sector. Corporations
often sell their surplus to overseas markets, and occasionally take foreign contracts
even if their main customer is their respective nation. 5 of the top 6 producers by sales
are American firms (the top ten are all primarily aerospace companies). As these are
major companies and very linked to their respective governments they will usually
follow the same limitations that the nation follows and the same export policies, as
they don’t want to risk ruining their relationship or reputation.
However, governments are not the only customers for arms, there is also a large
private demand for them, either for personal use or security firms. The state has less
control over these arms and where they may end up.
Illegal arms trade is estimated to create 10% of the total global arms trade. This
trade is mostly small arms, but it is the most likely to end up in areas of political
instability due to the presence of sanctions or bad trade relations. These weapons
rarely involve aerospace or naval weaponry but they are the most common in use by
warlords and other oppressive regimes and anti-aircraft weaponry is included in the
UN definition of small arms.
II.
Background:
The arms trade has historically been an area that the United Nations has tried to
manage through international organizations and interstate treaties. It is an issue of
grave importance, for arms can end up in places where they are used to commit gross
violations of human rights. Most historical efforts have focused on specific forms of
weaponry, or specific applications. Furthermore, many treaties that focus on
weaponry are ones like the Ottawa treaty and the Chemical Weapons Convention
(CWC) that outright ban certain types of weaponry, but also restrict the trade.
Despite the ban, there are some nations that have continued to use these forms of
weapons. Other nations enable this, by supplying the weapons. For example, Syria
used chemical weaponry that had been traded to them by foreign powers. These trades
often didn’t involve the weapons themselves, but both the German and UK
governments have admitted to exporting dual use chemicals to Syria, which are likely
the chemicals that they created their chemical weapons with.
Small arms legislation has been debated by the UN many times. Often referred to
under the umbrella term of SALW (Small Arms and Light Weapons), these weapons
are commonly brought into areas of political unrest due to their prevalence in the
illegal arms market. The UN has tried to limit the trade of SALW starting in 1991,
and has been continuing legislation on the issue ever since. In 2001 they hosted a
conference specifically on the illicit trade in small arms, and more recently the Arms
Trade Treaty (ATT) was adopted which as a universal approach to arms trade also sets
legislation on SALW.
Most hard limitations on the arms trade come in the form of embargoes, these
however are placed after the violations have commenced, and it is not an uncommon
strategy for nations involved in the arms trade to support their favored side in wars,
even if the area is extremely unstable. This has recently been shown with the US
policy to arm rebels in Syria (an area that is still unstable) against ISIS forces.
Additionally many governments circumvent the international sanctions in grey market
transactions.
Recently, the ATT was adopted which presents a unified approach to tackling
arms trade of all types of conventional arms1 with the purpose of stopping arms flows
to conflict regions.
Another major problem is that the arms last a long time. The Taliban is still using
British Lee-Enfield rifles, which were traded during the Victorian era, fighters from
the 1980s are still in use, the material traded to another country can last through
1
In the treaty referred to as Battle tanks; Armored combat vehicles; Large-caliber
artillery systems; Combat aircraft; Attack helicopters; Warships; Missiles and missile
launchers; and Small arms and light weapons.
multiple wars2. This means that even if the state is only slightly unstable and
purchasing arms when it does go to complete political unrest the arms are there
already and will stay.
III.
Relevant International Agreements, Conventions, Organizations and
Resolutions:
 1987-The Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) was
established by which nations agreed to stop the proliferation (or trade
of knowledge) of Unmanned delivery systems for over 500kg
 1991- UN Resolution A/RES/46/36 is adopted, the first UN resolution
to broach the issue of SALW control
 2003- UN Security Council Resolution 1437 is passed, focusing on
how to halt the flow of SALW in West Africa that was threatening the
peace.
 2008- UN Resolution A/RES/63/240 is passed which endorsed action
against illicit trafficking.
 2013- The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is adopted, a universal approach
to regulating the trade of conventional arms
 2013- UN Security Council Resolution 2117 is passed on stopping
illicit transfer of small arms and the accumulation of SALW
IV.
Main Issues:
Grey Market and “Other Changed End” situation:
Products of legal transactions can often end up in areas of political unrest.
“Grey markets” involve a trade, that is allowed by the UN, to a nation who then
transfers it to the final destination that is not UN approved. Furthermore,
corruption is a large issue in this sector due to the large amounts of money
involved. These sums mean that it is not uncommon for shipments to be altered in
some way, often legal but still violating the UN legislation at the end of the day.
Illegal trade:
There have been measures put in place by the UN to attempt to curb illegal
arms trade; however it still remains one of the primary means by which states that
are already in political turmoil obtain their weaponry. The current market for
illegal arms is huge both on the national and smaller scales. Even though some
nations are such as Iran are forbidden form exporting arms they still do, and there
are nations that will not agree to embargoes against nations. On the national level,
there is little the UN can do but punish the offending nation –who is usually
2
East German rifles are still traded on the world’s arms markets
already being punished in some other way. On the local level, national security
standards are often lax, for this trade does occur. This means that action and
regulation on a national scale has to be taken instead of at the international level
with the UN.
National interests:
The defense industry and the government are closely related in many
countries. As is such, the governments have vested interest in arms trade as it
makes them considerable amounts of money and helps keep the economy afloat
through state spending. Another, perhaps more important, concern is that the
nations that export the arms have interests in how foreign affairs play out. It is
often advantageous to a nation if one side emerges victorious in a war, or they
don’t want to send their troops in directly so they fund the war by proxy. This is
no-where near as prevalent as it was during the Cold War but it still occurs. These
trades often happen in areas where the area is not politically stable, for example
the US is now providing Syrian rebels with weaponry to fight ISIS even though
the civil war is unresolved and they are rebels, an organization that can only occur
during instability.
Starting:
Most Embargoes only start after the arms trade reaches periods of political
unrest, a post-mortem measure. Before that point is reached, the unstable regime is
still able to participate in the global arms trade, and no state will be internationally
punished for trading with them. Although nations can stop trading with a state
whenever they desire (unless on a contract), the whole flow will likely only
significantly stem after there is an act to cause condemnation or embargoing. As
the weapons will last until they are needed the leaders are able to stockpile the
weaponry and ammunition that they need.
V.
Web Sites:
Site of the ATT: http://www.un.org/disarmament/ATT/
UN documents on SALW: http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/undocuments/small-arms/
An interesting article on arms trade: http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/global-armsmarkets-seen-through-syrian-lens#axzz3DWJStpXW
UNODA website: http://www.un.org/disarmament/
It is advisable, before starting any research on specific issues on the agenda, to browse extensively
the <WWW Virtual Library: International Affairs resources>, one of the best portal with scores of
valuable links: http://www2.etown.edu/vl/ and of course the main UN portal: http://www.un.org/
as well as the invaluable UN cyber-school-bus website: http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/ . The
THIMUN website, http://www.thimun.org/ also has an extensive and efficient <Research> section
worth browsing. For comprehensive academic documents on international crisis:
http://www.crisisgroup.org/ has numerous reports in PDF format.
Procedural Reminder
Delegates are reminded that at PAMUN conference, they are not expected to arrive with full-fledged
resolutions. One or two solid clauses with which to caucus and kick-off the debates is all that is
required. These clauses should arise from the <Main Issues> section in the Research Reports, which
aims at directing the attention of the delegates to the pending issues which are in need of finding a
solution, which is what the debates in the committees seek to achieve. At PAMUN, Resolutions are
expected to emerge from the clause by clause debates in the committees.