The effectiveness of international agreements in nuclear arms control
Date
1982
Authors
Dahlitz, Julie
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Abstract
After many years of failure to control the
proliferation of nuclear weapons, numerous agreements
have been concluded to inhibit their manufacture,
transfer and combat use. The agreements are effective to
the extent that they exercise a substantial influence on
international conduct in this field. However, they are
ineffective in the sense that there is an increasing
discrepancy between the vertical and horizontal
proliferation of nuclear weapons, and the restraint
imposed by the agreements. Thus, with the continuation
of present trends, the quantitative and qualitative
growth of nuclear weapons and weapons systems is likely
to become unmanageable, probably leading to world nuclear
war. Nuclear weapons have many novel attributes that put
unprecendented strains on the international legal system
with respect to the negotiation, verification,
adjudication and enforcement of agreements to control
them. Neither the theoretical basis of international law
nor its application are appropriate for contemporary
requirements. The international legal system is
similarly deficient in facilitating the resolution of
underlying conflicts that threaten international peace
and security, which are the raison d'ĂȘtre of the nuclear
arms race.
Regarding the prevention of horizontal
proliferation, the major legal impediment is the result of failure to distinguish clearly between explicit and
implicit undertakings by States, and reluctance to make
sufficient use of United Nations machinery for the
formulation and application of unambiguous legal
norms. Bilateral efforts by the Superpowers to
utilise quasi-legal methods for halting vertical
proliferation are chiefly hampered by an unwillingness
to isolate subjects relating to the strategic balance
from other contentious issues. The modalities of agreement are not primarily
responsible for the continuing nuclear arms race,
especially between the Superpowers. That is the outcome
of the overall inability of States, at many levels of
interaction, to come to terms with the loss of jus ad
bellum, despite the knowledge that all out nuclear war
would put an end to human civilisation. Insufficient
effort to reorient the theory and practice of
international law so as to establish a system of accepted
international justice is a symptom, but not the cause, of
the general impasse. Nevertheless, the adoption of more
appropriate theories and more precise rules of law,
whether by United Nations forums, in the International
Court of Justice, or during the course of international
negotiation or mediation, would undoubtedly assist the
process of accommodation that could make nuclear arms
control ultimately and entirely effective.
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