Burgeoning military expenditures were among an array of worrying trends, delegates told the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) today, as they highlighted the development challenges confronting Member States even as they sought to curb the global proliferation of conventional weapons.
Stemming the steady flow of conventional arms into vulnerable regions required proper export controls and improvements in the implementation of existing instruments, delegates told the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) today during a debate on the issue.
Amid fears of an arms race in outer space, coupled with the transformation of that domain into a zone of conflict, several speakers in the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) warned today against its misuse, with some calling for new laws and mechanisms to hold perpetrators accountable.
Reflecting a deep chasm in disarmament and arms control discussions, delegates from nuclear-weapon States today defended deterrence policies while their counterparts from nations free of atomic bombs questioned slow progress in dismantling arsenals, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard as it concluded its debate on nuclear weapons and took up its agenda item on other weapons of mass destruction.
Debating a range of legally binding measures and norms for advancing nuclear disarmament today, speakers in the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) discussed the future of a fissile material cut‑off treaty and other instruments as building blocks towards a nuclear‑weapon‑free world.
The Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons took centre stage today, as delegates from States without atomic bombs strongly urged States possessing them to shrink their arsenals and work towards the common goal of a nuclear-weapon-free world, as the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) continued its thematic debate on the issue.
While the Outer Space Treaty was a landmark instrument, some of its undeveloped aspects remained within the legal regime in order to preserve security in space, a joint ad hoc meeting of the First (Disarmament and International Security) and Fourth Committees (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today.
Game-changing, largely ungoverned technological innovations were transforming how wars were being fought and added to the already immense load borne by the disarmament and non-proliferation machinery, posing challenges to arms control regimes, experts told the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) today during a thematic discussion and debate.
The proliferation of weapons and rising military activism made it appear as though the world was engaged in another “cold war with a race for weapons”, delegates warned today as the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) concluded its general debate.
States must overcome narrow national interests and “misguided notions of parity” to overcome the disarmament machinery’s deadlock and lead the Conference on Disarmament to adopt a programme of work, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today as its general debate entered a second week.
