Injecting political will.

• Author: Gonzalez, Esteban Ramirez
• Position: THE CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT

the Conference on Disarmament (CD)* has met in vain for years. After the successful negotiation of the Limited Test Ban Treaty in 1963, the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1970 and, more recently, the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1992, the forum increasingly stagnated. The last time the Conference agreed to negotiate was in 1996--this time for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly but has yet to enter into force.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Ever since, the so-called "single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum of the international community" has been unable to undertake substantive work. In 2009, a Programme of Work was approved, but the CD failed to implement it.

WHAT'S WRONG?

Serious institutional problems in the CD derive from a cold war inheritance: (1) the CD's rules and agenda have made it almost impossible to enable transparent and multilateral decision making. (2) The lack of review mechanisms prevents accountability and institutional reform. The consensus rule, however, remains the greatest obstacle in the CD. In fact, in an increasingly multipolar world, this rule allows individual states to preserve the status quo at the expense of collective progress towards disarmament. (3)

Sergio Duarte, the United Nations High Representative for Disarmament, has stressed the lack of political will. When Member States have been willing to negotiate, the argument goes, the CD has produced results.

Perhaps it is the minimal prominence given to disarmament in domestic politics that explains why governments seem to care little about the CD. (4) There are jokes about the fact that, while speeches at the UN Human Rights Council are closely monitored by foreign ministries, those at the CD usually go unchecked. These two dimensions are closely interlinked: good institutions can help enable decision making by providing incentives and accountability, which translate into political will. The opposite also holds true.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

The problems of the CD are part of a learning process towards sustainable governance, linking international and domestic spheres at the global level. While diplomats and policy makers stand at the forefront in tackling the problem, roots run deep into local politics. Global institutions have difficulty crafting sound policies while at the same time satisfying national and, sometimes, parochial constituencies. When bargaining at international fora, governments...