Anna Lindh and Erkki Tuomioja IHT
Wednesday, July 3, 2002
Weapons of mass destruction
STOCKHOLM / HELSINKI The horror scenarios of the Cold War have disappeared, but the threat of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons has not. Like the monstrous Hydra of Greek mythology, modern weapons of mass destruction are sprouting new heads faster than anybody can cut them off.
The web of disarmament and anti-proliferation treaties, woven during the Cold War, has turned out to have gaping holes, large enough for suitcase bombs and even passenger jets to slip through.
Only a multilateral approach can counter the new threats. They must be tackled by the international community together, on a universal basis, by strengthening existing treaties and agreements.
Weapons of mass destruction are inherently dangerous, not only in irresponsible hands, but in anyone's. While putting pressure on irresponsible states, responsible countries must redeem their commitments to act multilaterally and to reduce their own reliance on nuclear weapons.
The agreements reached by President George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin on reducing strategic arsenals are a significant step in the right direction. They should go on, destroying surplus warheads and reducing their operational forces further.
Along with five positive developments, there are worrying ones. Some of the proposals of the U.S. nuclear posture review would contradict U.S. obligations under the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty. Maintaining a robust non-proliferation regime is a global common interest, and should not be undermined.
New nuclear weapons, such as earth-penetrating missiles, might risk lowering the threshold for a "limited nuclear attack", an extremely dangerous concept.
The United States should reconsider its decision not only to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and should maintain its moratorium on testing.
Strategic missile defence may give an illusion of increased security, but in reality it increases reliance on nuclear weapons and hampers non-proliferation and disarmament efforts.
While September 11th and the Kashmir crisis have heightened public awareness of the threat of weapons of mass destruction, multilateral disarmament efforts have lost momentum. The international community is looking for new tools. It should use those already in its toolbox - existing arms control treaties - and sharpen them to meet new challenges.
Treaties do not create a perfect world, but a multilateral approach is still the best answer to global security concerns. Too many states remain outside major disarmament agreements, or do not fully comply with their commitments, undermining their credibility.
Multilateral solutions are needed in four areas:
The action plan that Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty signatories agreed upon in 2000 should be implemented. Finland and Sweden have drawn attention, in particular, to the commitment by the nuclear-armed states to reduce further their non-strategic nuclear weapons. Russia, which still holds thousands of these weapons, should embark on the reduction process in a transparent and irreversible manner. Negotiations on a formal, legally binding and verifiable agreement should start as soon as possible.
The 1972 Biological Weapons Convention was the first to ban an entire category of weapons of mass destruction, but the provisions for controlling compliance with it are sorely lacking. After the U.S. rejection last summer of a compliance framework, the parties to the convention could not agree on a legally binding instrument. The convention should be strengthened when the treaty review conference resumes its work this autumn.
Solid international norms are needed to cover the production, stockpiling, acquisition and trade in ballistic missiles. The draft International Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation is the most concrete step in this direction to date. Sweden and Finland are working hard to help finalise the code by the end of this year. Countries that have developed and exported ballistic missiles and related technology, notably North Korea, as well as Iran and Iraq, must join anti-proliferation efforts, and countries such as China, India, Pakistan and Israel should contribute to these efforts.
Huge stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction pose a threat to the world. They could fall into the hands of other states or terrorists. This threat urgently needs to be met by helping to destroy the weapons or at least to keep them safe.
Even Hercules could not kill the many-headed monster alone. Only by acting together will we safeguard the security of all.
Anna Lindh and Erkki Tuomioja, foreign ministers, respectively, of Sweden and Finland, contributed this comment to the International Herald Tribune.
IHT Copyright 2002 The International Herald Tribune