Disarmament

Policy aimed at minimizing the probability or destructiveness of armed conflicts. When states or groups disarm, they reduce the size, quality, or destructive capacity of their military capabilities. States or groups may be compelled to disarm or may negotiate disarmament through bilateral or multilateral agreements.

There are three general types of disarmament. First, at the interstate level, disarmament may pertain to the terms of strategic surrender at the end of major wars. Second, also at the interstate level, disarmament may involve the cooperative removal of military capabilities, such as weapons of mass destruction. Third, disarmament may refer to measures at the intrastate level that have been employed after civil wars to reduce the likelihood that groups at the local level will return to violence.

Forced Disarmament

Forced disarmament resulting from the terms of surrender at the end of major wars occurs when the victorious state imposes restrictions on the military capabilities of the defeated state. In the 20th century, forced disarmament has most notably been imposed on Japan and Germany at the end of World War II. After the countries surrendered, the Allied powers imposed limitations on German and Japanese military forces. The Allied powers disbanded the Axis powers' armed forces, seized their naval fleets, and strictly prohibited them from developing nuclear weapons. The objective of forcing Germany and Japan to disarm was to prevent them from being a future threat to security.

Cooperative Disarmament

Cooperative disarmament seeks to eliminate certain classes of weapons from states' military arsenals that are deemed needlessly destructive. The Treaty on the NonProliferation of Nuclear Weapons, or NonProliferation Treaty (NPT), which went into force in 1970 and currently has 189 state signatories including the United States, is a key instrument for cooperative disarmament. Article VI of the NPT requires that “each of the Parties to the Treaty undertakes to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a Treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control.” Other international agreements, such as the 1975 Biological and Toxic Weapons Convention (BWC), the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), and the 1999 Anti-Personnel Landmine Ban Convention (Mine-Ban Convention) also endeavor to eliminate specific weapons by prohibiting states from developing, transferring, or deploying the weapons.

A state may also choose to voluntarily disarm based on principles similar to cooperative disarmament. By unilaterally disarming, a state may effectively demonstrate that it is no longer a threat to its neighbors. For example, South Africa's decision to voluntarily dismantle its nuclear weapons program in 1993 was motivated by its desire to be a cooperative member of the international community. The case of South Africa has often been cited in the years since, to encourage other nations to follow suit, including Israel, India, and Pakistan.

At the intrastate level, disarmament is considered one step toward implementing peace agreements to end civil wars. The other two steps are demobilization and reintegration. These three steps are oftentimes referred to collectively as DDR (disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration). Disarmament programs obligate competing combatants to turn in weapons. Demobilization removes junior members of rebel groups and brings them under the control of the government. Former combatants are then encouraged to reintegrate with society or join the national army. [Page 211]DDR programs were implemented to settle civil wars in Mozambique in 1992, Cambodia in 1991, and Laos in 1962.

...