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Results How Ireland sowed seeds for nuclear disarmament The Irish Times, April 14, 2010 "pinion$ Pg. 1%, 11&4 words

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Page 2 How Ireland sowed seeds for nuclear disarmament The Irish Times April 14, 2010 Return to 'ist 1% of 1&& (")*+,#T-

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The Irish Times April 14, 2010 ednesda!

How Ireland sowed seeds for nuclear disarmament

SECTION: "PI#I"#$ "pinion$ Pg. 1% LENGTH: 11&4 words ANALYSIS:.ran/ Ai/en first tried to stop the spread of nuclear weapons more than 00 !ears ago in the *#, writes NOEL DORR I# PRA1*, a !ear ago President 2arac/ "3ama committed the *- to stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and see/ing the ultimate goal of a world without them. He is clearl! sincere a3out this. 'ast -eptem3er he chaired a *# -ecurit! )ouncil meeting on nuclear issues$ on April 4th, he and Russia s president (mitr! +ed5ede5, who 3etween them control 60 per cent of the world s nuclear weapons, signed a new 107!ear treat! pro5iding for reductions in strategic missiles and warheads, and this wee/ he is hosting a summit on nuclear securit! in ashington. The ne8t important step will 3e the re5iew conference of the #uclear #on7Proliferation Treat!, which opens in #ew 9or/ on +a! :rd. e in Ireland ha5e a particular interest in this treat! 3ecause it was former Irish foreign minister .ran/ Ai/en who first made the case for it more than 00 !ears ago. The treat! e5entuall! came into force in 16&0. "n the 40th anni5ersar! last month, "3ama descri3ed it as the cornerstone of the world s efforts to pre5ent the spread of nuclear weapons . 2ut when Ai/en first raised the issue in 1604 the omens were none too fa5oura3le. Initiall! the *- found his proposal unaccepta3le; at the time it was considering locating tactical nuclear weapons in ,urope. .urthermore, #ato 3elie5ed that all arms agreements must 3e su3<ect to effecti5e control and the! did not see how to ensure that those who had nuclear weapons would not pass them secretl! to others. "thers again o3<ected that a treat! would free=e ine>ualit! 3etween nuclear ha5es and ha5e nots . The -o5iet *nion, in contrast, was more open ha5ing ac>uired nuclear weapons itself it had little interest in spreading them to others. In this atmosphere Ai/en was wise enough not to force the issue in 1604; he as/ed onl! for a 5ote on a single general paragraph in his proposal which recognised the dangers inherent in the further dissemination of nuclear weapons . The -o5iet *nion 5oted for$ the *- and its allies a3stained. Ai/en then withdrew the whole resolution, 3elie5ing it prudent to fight another da!, on another 3attlefield. He returned to the issue a !ear later, in 1606. This time he lin/ed the concept of an agreement to a5ert the spread of nuclear weapons with another idea for areas of law regions where groups of states would commit themsel5es to a3ide 3! the charter and the rule of law in return for securit! guarantees from the ma<or nuclear powers. This imaginati5e proposal met with little success. 2ut his ideas a3out the urgenc! of stopping the

Page : How Ireland sowed seeds for nuclear disarmament The Irish Times April 14, 2010 ednesda! spread of nuclear weapons were gaining some ground. -o he proposed a new resolution. This would ha5e the general assem3l! suggest that a new disarmament committee consider appropriate means to pre5ent their spread including the feasi3ilit! of an international agreement su3<ect to inspection and control . Ai/en was pragmatic in his approach. He was e5en far7sighted enough to foresee that not onl! states 3ut re5olutionar! organisations and groups could ac>uire such weapons and the! are e5er more li/el! to do so according as these weapons 3ecome more numerous, more easil! transporta3le and part of standard militar! e>uipment . It is this danger which on April 12th "3ama called the most immediate and e8treme threat to glo3al securit! . In 1606 the general assem3l! appro5ed Ai/en s modest proposal 3! %4 5otes to =ero with 12 a3stentions. "ddl! enough, ,ast and est had changed positions since the pre5ious !ear; the *- and #ato, e8cept for .rance, now 5oted for$ the -o5iet *nion and its allies a3stained. A !ear later, in 16%0, Ai/en returned to the fra! with a new te8t. It called on all go5ernments to ma/e e5er! effort to achie5e permanent agreement to stop the spread of nuclear weapons, and called for temporar!, 5oluntar! measures, pending such agreement. He also 3rought in 1hana, ?apan, +e8ico and +orocco as co7sponsors. The assem3l! appro5ed this resolution 3! %4 5otes to =ero with 2% a3stentions. Ai/en s >uiet and stu33orn persistence finall! won out a !ear later in 16%1. His new resolution called e8plicitl! on all states to negotiate an international agreement under which nuclear states would not gi5e nuclear weapons or /now7how to non7nuclear states, and non7nuclear states would underta/e not to manufacture or ac>uire such weapons. This time Ireland was the sole sponsor. The omens now were fa5oura3le. "n (ecem3er 4th, 16%1, the Irish resolution was adopted unanimousl! 3! the general assem3l!. As the most <unior mem3er of the Irish delegation, I was there for the 5ote that da!. In the esoteric language of *# procedures there is a difference 3etween a resolution adopted 3! consensus and one adopted 3! unanimit! . "ne lea5es scope for reser5ations 3! indi5idual delegations the other means <ust what it sa!s. -o Ai/en had achie5ed the 3est possi3le outcome to four !ears of patient diplomatic groundwor/. This, howe5er, was onl! a first step towards an actual treat!. -e5en !ears of negotiation 3etween ma<or powers followed. ,5entuall!, on ?ul! 1st, 16%4, the #uclear #on7Proliferation Treat!, which the Irish resolution had called for, was opened for signature simultaneousl! in 'ondon, +oscow and ashington. To mar/ its part in raising the issue 10 !ears earlier Ireland signed in all three capitals. e had no diplomatic relations with the -o5iet *nion at the time 3ut Ai/en was in5ited to +oscow to sign and while there he presented Ireland s formal ratification to then foreign minister Andrei 1rom!/o. -o, Ireland, which was the first to argue for it 10 !ears 3efore, 3ecame the first countr! to ratif! the new treat!. "5er the past 40 !ears the treat! has stood as a 3arrier against the spread of nuclear weapons. -ome 146 states now adhere to it more than other disarmament agreement. India and Pa/istan, howe5er, did not sign and the! are now nuclear powers$ Israel, though it will not admit it, has nuclear weapons$ #orth @orea has withdrawn and conducted tests, and there is a serious >uestion mar/ a3out Iran s intentions. -o, 40 !ears on, the treat! is under pressure. 2ut "3ama s support for it is a hopeful sign. -ince 164&, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientistshas shown a s!m3olic cloc/ face on the co5er of each issue. The editors mo5e the minute hand closer to, or farther from, midnight, according to their assessment of the current dangers from nuclear weapons. hen Ai/en s resolution was adopted in 16%1, it was se5en minutes to the hour. After the cold war it went 3ac/ 10 minutes. Toda! it shows si8 minutes to 12. It is time to push it 3ac/ again. Noel Dorr is a former secretar! general at the (epartment of .oreign Affairs and former Irish permanent representati5e to the *nited #ations. He is also a go5ernor of the Irish Times Trust.

Page 4 How Ireland sowed seeds for nuclear disarmament The Irish Times April 14, 2010 ednesda! This article draws on a chapter in the writer s forthcoming 3oo/ Ireland at the United Nations: Memories of the Early Years, pu3lished this month 3! the Institute of Pu3lic Administration LOAD DATE: April 14, 2010 LANG!AGE: ,#1'I-H "!#LICATION TY"E: #ewspaper

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