Disarmament

Mindful of the possible international security implications of artificial intelligence in the military domain, including the risks of an arms race, miscalculation, lowering the threshold for conflict and escalation of conflict, and proliferation to non-State actors, States would be encouraged to pursue efforts at all levels to address related opportunities and challenges, including from humanitarian, legal, security, technological and ethical perspectives, by one of 14 drafts passed today in the First Committee.

The General Assembly would reaffirm that the prevention of an outer space arms race would avert a grave danger for international peace and security and thus welcome deliberations by the open-ended working group on reducing space threats, which constitute an important contribution to outer space security and the prevention of such an arms race, according to one of 15 drafts approved today by the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security).

Meeting on the heels of the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on 31 October, Security Council members today renewed their calls for de-escalation, dialogue and a return to unity within the 15 nation organ, as speakers sparred over the imposition of sanctions and the real source of security threats in the Korean Peninsula.

The General Assembly would condemn in the strongest possible terms the use of chemical weapons by anyone under any circumstances as unacceptable and an international law violation, and express its strong conviction that those responsible for their use must and should be held accountable, according to one of six drafts on mass destruction weapons approved today by the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security).

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea and the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, through its Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific, on 4 and 5 November will co-host in Seoul the twenty-third Republic of Korea—United Nations Joint Conference on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Issues.

Reflecting an escalating security crisis, described by many delegations in the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) as more volatile than during the cold war, and a retrenchment of narrow political interests, a week of action began on 80 proposals today, with 24 texts on nuclear weapons requiring 79 separate recorded votes for passage.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

Outer space is facing severe security challenges, with certain countries declaring it a war-fighting domain, accelerating their space military capability build-up and heightening the risk of an arms race, the representative of China told the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) in its thematic debate today.

The disarmament machinery is an essential part of the toolkit for putting good ideas into action, building consensus, bridging divisions and doing the hard work required to achieve and maintain a safer world, Australia’s delegate told the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security), which today concluded its thematic debate on disarmament machinery and opened its deliberations on outer space.

“It is sad but true that no region around the globe has been spared from crisis or insecurity this year,” the representative of the United States told the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) today in its thematic debate on regional disarmament and security, which was followed by the start of debate on the United Nations disarmament machinery.