Brian Bradley
NS&D Monitor
1/23/2015
The first of three Conference on Disarmament (CD) sessions scheduled for this year convened on Jan. 19 in Geneva with renewed optimism—though no concrete signs—that the international negotiating body can break a longstanding deadlock and move any disarmament discussions forward. Speaking at the CD on Jan. 20, Amb. Robert Wood, U.S. Special Representative to the Conference on Disarmament, voiced U.S. support for negotiation of a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty (FMCT), and pledged U.S. assistance in guiding the CD, even as negotiations have faltered since 2012, when substantive discussions on a FMCT were last undertaken.
Pakistan has blocked negotiations on an FMCT for years—last in 2012—citing concerns rooted in the large existing stocks of nuclear materials held by the U.S., Russia and other nuclear weapon states including rival India. “An FMCT remains a central component of our nuclear disarmament agenda, and is a goal overwhelmingly endorsed by the international community,” Wood said. “In our tireless quest to advance this objective, and the objectives of this Conference, the United States is actively participating in the ongoing work of the Group of Governmental Experts [GGE] exploring possible elements of a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty.”
Wood emphasized that the work of the CD-established—but now separate—GGE is aimed at trailblazing FMCT negotiations, not bypassing them. He said he opposes methods which would bring FMCT negotiations outside the consensus framework of the CD, and emphasized a middle path for negotiations. “Indeed, we believe it vital to guard against any temptations to water down the concept of what constitutes a proper Program of Work [PoW], while at the same time rejecting any compulsions to table proposals that will surely fail to gain consensus,” Wood said. “Putting forward proposals doomed to failure could be used by those who are skeptical of the CD’s enduring value to undermine this forum.” Wood also urged CD members to focus on areas of common ground and refrain from “impractical demands or political agendas that cannot command consensus” in preparation for the 2015 Review Conference for the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Cooperation with Russia Continues
Wood also highlighted ongoing bilateral arms reductions amid a tense relationship with Russia, noting that the U.S. has cut its nuclear arsenal by 85 percent from its Cold War peak. “Those who claim that there has been no progress on nuclear disarmament are ignoring the indisputable fact: The United States and Russia continue to implement the New START Treaty successfully,” he said. “When we complete implementation of the Treaty’s central limits in 2018, deployed strategic nuclear weapons will be at their lowest levels since the 1950s.”
Waning Prominence of CD?
Speaking on behalf of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Michael Moller, Acting Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament, said events like the Dec. 24 entry into force of the Arms Trade Treaty and GGE deliberations about the FMCT could diminish the CD’s role as the single negotiating forum for multilateral disarmament. “Past achievements of the Conference show its potential,” Moller said. “I urge you to regain that sense of shared responsibility and do your part to advance peace and security through disarmament. In that spirit, I wish you success in the year ahead.” NGOs and disarmament groups such as Reaching Critical Will have criticized the CD for its lack of action in recent years. “No program of activity has moved forward since 1996 and this disappointing fact puts at risk the future of the consensus-based Conference on Disarmament,” Reaching Critical Will’s website description of the CD states. “The CD has agreed to a fissile cut-off negotiating mandate but has been unable to establish an ad hoc committee needed to carry forward talks.”
Modernization Opposition
Moller also underscored ongoing nuclear modernization plans in nuclear-weapon states, cautioning that the programs could usher in an era of new warhead types and delivery methods. “And instead of seeking the peace and security of a nuclear-weapon-free world, many actors seem poised to retreat back into the false security promised by doctrines of mutually assured destruction,” he said. “These trends threaten to reverse the gains over the past two decades in the reduction of the global stockpile of deployed strategic weapons, and to undermine prospects for future progress.”
After Recent Impasses, Wood Backs Two-Pronged Discussion Approach
Although 2014 CD negotiations did not result in topical agreement, Wood said progress could be made working under the “dual-track approach” established last year, comprising discussions under the CD Schedule of Activities and a continuance of the 2013 Informal Working Group charged with developing “a programme of work robust in substance and progressive over time in implementation.” But Wood also proposed a multilateral effort to improve the working methods of the conference under the CD’s overarching rule of consensus, as the CD will periodically meet until March 27.
