DISARMAMENT and INTERNATIONAL SECURITY COMMITTEE

ROOTS YOUTH MODEL UNITED NATIONS DISARMAMENT AND INTERNATIONAL SECURITY COMMITTEE

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Topic B: Rights of States to Develop and Maintain Nuclear Weapons

INTRODUCTION After the attack on the Japanese territories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6th August 1945, the world for the first time came across the technology of Nuclear Weapon. The first nuclear attack however ended the war at the pacific, thus ending the Second World War, but it did create grave concerns for the generations to come. The global nuclear arms race official started 29th August 1949 when the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) successfully detonated their first nuclear weapon. Soon after this explosion an era of cold war was started which only came to an end on 26st December 1991 when the USSR was disintegrated. By 1991 world had some 21000 operational nuclear and 95 % of that arsenal belongs to USA and USSR. The prime logic of maintaining these arsenals was to maintain a level of nuclear deterrence between the states. However with dissolution of USSR and ending of the cold war the international community showed serious concern about the presence of large number of nuclear weapons. Presently there are eight declared Nuclear Weapon States (NWS) in the world. Along with United States and Russia, United Kingdom, France, China, India and Pakistan also process nuclear weapons. The state of Israel has maintain ambiguity about its status but it is highly believed that it also possess nuclear weapon.

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During the cold war both the super powers (the USA and the USSR) continued to develop nuclear weapon and world saw a nuclear arm between these two countries. During the prime time of the cold war the world had almost 45000 non operational nuclear weapons. The graph shows the variation in the number of nuclear weapons possessed by USA and USSR during the 1945 to 2005.

Statement of Problem
Presence of Nuclear Weapon has always been accepted as threat to the world. Luckily even the Nuclear Weapon States had realized the potential risk of world full of nuclear weapon especially USA and Russia. Both these countries had signed many treaties to reduce the menace of Nuclear Weapons. Many of these treaties were signed during the cold war era, but had little impact during the time of the cold war. But soon after the disintegration of USSR, there was a considerable decline in the nuclear arsenal of the word. The following the main nuclear treaties that drawn and signed by almost all countries of the word.

1963 Limited Test Ban Treaty

An agreement between the US, USSR, and UK which prevented nuclear testing above ground, underwater, and in outer space. But it does allow testing to occur underground as long as the radioactive fallout is not widespread. A total of 116 countries have signed this, and China, who had not signed, did testing in 1992 that violated the treaty's guidelines.

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1967 Outer Space Treaty

An agreement between the US, USSR, and UK which banned placing weapons of mass destruction in orbit, on the moon, or in any other location in outer space for military purposes. Eighty-six nations have signed this agreement.

1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

An agreement among the US, USSR, UK, and 133 non nuclear weapon countries which prevented the spread of nuclear weapons. It made sure that non-nuclear-weapon countries did not start weapons production. This treaty was made permanent in May 1995. India, Pakistan and Israel are not a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty

1972 Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty I ABM treaty

A Treaty between the US and USSR which limited the anti-ballistic missile systems to a maximum of 100 ABMS launchers and missiles. It also prohibits the testing and application of any of these components

1972 Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty I Interim Agreement

An agreement between the US and USSR keeping the number of strategic ballistic missiles at the same level for 5 years. The construction of more ICBM silos was restricted, but SLBM launcher amounts could increase if there was a reduction in ICBM or SLBM.

1979 Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty II

An agreement between the US and USSR which put a limit on offensive weapons systems and strategic systems. A 2,400 limit was put on amount of strategic nuclear weapon delivery vehicles, and a max of 1,320 was put on MIRVed ballistic missiles. The U.S. voided the treaty in 1986.

1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF)

A treaty between the US and USSR which bans all intermediate range missiles (IRMs), short range missiles, and all associated facilities and equipment. On-site inspection is used to make sure that both countries are following the treaty.

1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty

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An agreement between the US and USSR which limited the number of strategic nuclear delivery vehicles to 1,600. It also limited the number of warheads per country to 6,000; this treaty reduced the U.S.'s and Soviet's warheads by 15% and 25% respectively.

1993 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty II

This treaty is an agreement between the US and Russia which will further reduces the number of warheads by 5,000. Both sides must reduce their warheads by this amount by December 4, 2001.

1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT)

An agreement signed by the US, CIS, UK, and 90 other countries which banned all nuclear tests above and below the Earth's surface. A worldwide monitoring system including 170 seismic stations checked for any signs of nuclear explosion. India was the only nuclear country that didn't sign; it has conducted five nuclear tests recently.

.Among all these treaties the most important one is the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, more commonly known as the NPT. The core aim of NPT is to achieve a complete nuclear disarmament; the treaty is nevertheless sometimes interpreted as a three-pillar system which includes 1) Non-proliferation 2) Armament and 3) Right to peaceful use of nuclear technology. India, Pakistan and Israel are not signatories to this landmark treaty. North Korea was initially a signatory but later withdrew from the treaty 10 th April 2003 and on 10th February 2005 North Korea declared itself a nuclear weapon state. Recently Irans nuclear project is being considered as a violation of the NPT. Iran is a signatory to the treaty but the IAEA official has reported that Iran had repeatedly and over an extended period failed to meet its safeguards obligations, including by failing to declare its uranium enrichment program. However the effort to achieve this aim has not came to an end on 8th April 2010 USA and Russia had signed a new treaty known as the NEW START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty). The treaty was enforced on 5th February 2010 and under the terms of the treaty the number of strategic nuclear missile launchers will be reduced by half. A new inspection and verification regime will be established. Even in presence of such comprehensive treaties to finish nuclear arsenal form the world, unfortunately about 19000 nuclear weapons are still present in the world, which

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to an extent show the failure and incapacity of all these treaties and legislation that was done to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons. Therefore reassess the scenario regarding the weapons of mass destruction this meet of Disarmament and International Security committee has been called. Delegates are highly advised to go through all previous treaties and legislation regarding nuclear weapon and all research about their result which they achieved. Useful research links United Nations: http://www.un.org/ NPT: http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Documents/Treaties/npt.html
NEW START: http://www.state.gov/t/avc/newstart/c44126.htm GLOBAL ZERO: www.globalzero.org/

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