DISARMAMENT

Prepared by,
Thomas G. M.
Associate professor,
Pompei college Aikala DK
Introduction:
 Disarmament is one of those phenomena of
international politics which are regarded as
solutions to international problems.
 There is an argument that armament race is
causing war and hence war can be checked only
by disarmament.
 Generally disarmament indicates the idea of
limitation, control or reduction of armaments.
 Disarmament may also mean anything from a
simple limitation to complete abolition of arms.
 Disarmament may be unilateral or multilateral,
general or local, total or partial, controlled or
uncontrolled.
Definitions of disarmament:
 Disarmament is a “process of creating
conditions which make it difficult or
impossible for nations to break or
endanger the peace and not as a
bargaining process to reduce the cost of
preparing for war.” – Cohen.
 “Disarmament is the reduction or
elimination of certain or all armaments
for the purpose of ending armament
race.” – Morgenthau.
Need for disarmament:
 Need for disarmaments has been
emphasized on various grounds such as –
1. It is argued that armaments are the
basic cause of all rivalries among the
states. Every state increases its arms and
ammunitions on the ground of greater
security leading to armament race paving
the way for fear and suspicion in
international politics which ultimately
leads to war.
Need for disarmament ……
2.Disarmament is also promoted and
defended on economic and humanitarian
grounds. Developed countries use a huge
amount of money on armaments which
could be profitably used for improving the
standard of life of poor people in
underdeveloped countries.
 “Every gun that is made, every warship
launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the
final sense, a theft from those who are
hungry and are not fed, those who are cold
and not clothed” –Eisenhower.
Need for disarmaments …
Thus, the goal of disarmament is
 in the first place, to remove the threat of
future devastating wars & the extension
of human civilization and
 secondly, to reallocate resources used for
military purposes to peaceful,
constructive and developmental purposes.
Kinds of disarmament:
 Disarmament may be of various types, like
1. General & Comprehensive,
2. Local and General
3. Qualitative & Quantitative, etc.
1. General & Comprehensive:
 General disarmament is the one in which
all or most of the great powers participate
but not with a commitment to do away with
all types of weapons.
 On the other hand Comprehensive
disarmament involves the control or
prohibition of all categories of armaments.
 This is a total disarmament, a world free of
weapons of destruction & annihilation.
 It also means the absence of armies,
weapons, military training institutes and
ministries of defnece.
2. Local & General:
 When the process of disarmament
involves few or some nations, it is said to
be local e.g. the Rush- Bagot agreement
between US & Canada,1817.
 General disarmament relates to efforts
made by international organizations like
the UN involving the whole world in the
programme of reducing, limiting or
eliminating arms.
3. Qualitative and Quantitative:
 Qualitative disarmament is
concerned with the reduction or
elimination of only certain types of arms
e.g. NPT.
 Quantitative disarmament, on the
other hand, aims at an over all reduction
of armaments of most or all types. It does
not regulate the invention or use of any
future arms technology.
Problems of Disarmament:
 Some of the hurdles or problems in
achieving disarmament are the following –
1. Problem of security & fear,
2. Lack of mutual trust,
3. Absence of alternative to arms,
4. Pressure of arms industry,
5. National interest,
6. Problem of qualitative/quantitative control,
7. Not practicable, etc.
1. Problem of security & fear:
 The problem of disarmament is closely
linked to the problem of security.
 Nations whether big or small join the
arms race due to the fear of insecurity.
 Many states feel that disarmament deprive
states of their means of security.
 Thus, the concept of security & insecurity
poses a problem to effective
disarmament.
2. Lack of mutual trust:
 Disarmament faces problem as there is the
lack of trust between nations.
 Usually suspicion regarding the intentions of
arms control hinders the talks towards
disarmaments.
 If there were perfect trust between nations,
arms would be unnecessary and
disarmament would not be a problem
(Sleicher).
 Thus, lack of mutual trust among nations
causing difficulties in the realization of
effective disarmament agreement.
3. Absence of alternative to arms:
 States require armaments in order to
achieve a number of objectives.
 Since there is no substitute to the
possession of arms, disarmaments
becomes difficult.
4. Pressure of arms industry:
 The pressure of arms industry has an impact
on the policy of a country pertaining to
disarmament.
 The nations producing weapons earn huge
profits and bestow political favors by
supplying modern weapons.
 USA & Western Europe are the major
producers & third world countries are its
major buyers.
 Since the manufacture and sale of
armaments are commercially profitable
nations discourage disarmaments.
5. National Interest:
 Disarmament talks and conferences are a
farce as majority of nations want to take
much and give little as security is dear and
fear is strong.
 Every nation is concerned with its
national interest which is closely
intervened with security.
6. Problem of qualitative or
qualitative control:
 It is always difficult to determine whether the
nation –states are equal in armaments or
superior to another as there are different types
of weapons.
 The agreement on ratio of strength causes a
political problem as well as a technical one.
 Thus, carrying on arms negotiations and political
negotiations simultaneously requires great skill &
efficient diplomacy.
 The question of standards of allocation of the
types and quantities of different armaments to be
allotted also causes many problems.
7. Not Practicable:
 Many nations believe that the military
preparedness really enhances its sense of
security rather by adopting disarmament.
 Peace through disarmaments is an utopian
dream.
 There is no historical evidence to prove the
fact that a disarmed world would be a
peaceful world.
 Opponents of disarmament argue that
weapons are not the causes but rather
results of conflictive relationship.
Conclusion:
 The history of attempt at disarmament is a story
of many failures and few successes (Morgenthau).
 The issue of disarmament cannot be simplified in
the present day world where mutual distrust
prevails.
 In fact the problem of disarmament is not the
problem of disarmament, but it is really the
problem of the organization of the world
community.
 The disarmament strategy is built upon three
pillars – security, survival & development.