April 2009

Welcome to the April 2009 issue of SIPRI Update: Global Security & Arms Control. This monthly newsletter is your source for the latest developments in international security, arms control, non-proliferation and conflict, including recent SIPRI activities and publications.

In this issue:

• Sibylle Bauer writes on the challenges of punishing acts of WMD proliferation
• New SIPRI Research Report on exports of dual-use goods
• Forthcoming SIPRI events
• Recent SIPRI events
• SIPRI in the media
• SIPRI fact of the month
• SIPRI’s latest publications
  • The CFE Treaty One Year after its Unilateral Suspension
  • Reporting Transfers of Small Arms and Light Weapons to UNROCA, 2007
  • China’s Expanding Peacekeeping Role
  • Chemical and Biochemical Non-lethal Weapons
  • SIPRI Yearbook 2008

Sibylle Bauer

Controlling the export of items that have military applications is a key tool in preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Every day, customs officers have to determine whether shipments of goods with a potential military application could lead to the proliferation of WMD technology. In December 2008 the Council of the European Union (EU) committed itself to strengthen the legal means to combat proliferation, including a renewed commitment to punish acts of proliferation, when it adopted the New Lines for Action in Combating the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems. While the goals of this document are laudable, what challenges are there in practice?

Continue reading . . .

Enforcing European Union Law on Exports of Dual-use Goods, SIPRI Research Report no. 24, by Anna Wetter

The report, authored by Anna Wetter, a former member of the SIPRI Arms Control and Non-proliferation Programme, introduces international and European export control arrangements covering dual-use goods, focusing particularly on the EC Dual-use Regulation. It also examines and critiques how the European Union member states fulfil their obligations in relation to dual-use export controls. Four in-depth case studies present the current dual-use export control law and enforcement systems in Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom, along with accounts of real-life investigations and prosecutions.

For information on Enforcing European Union Law on Exports of Dual-use Goods, including an executive summary for free download, click here. Contact the author of the book, Anna Wetter, for more information on this report. To order the book, click here.

SIPRI joins new network on the EU’s role in crisis management

SIPRI has been invited to join the European Union’s new COST Action Network on New Challenges of Peacekeeping and the European Union’s role in Multilateral Crisis Management. The network, which will operate for four years, aims to contribute to the effectiveness and coherence of the European policymaking process that was launched by political leaders and civil society and to improve awareness among European citizens of the EU’s role in peace operations. For more information, click here or contact SIPRI Researcher Sharon Wiharta.

Dr Bates Gill, SIPRI Director, was quoted in the Financial Times on the recent display of China’s naval forces. He participated in a special edition of the German news programme Tagesschau on the occasion of NATO’s 60th anniversary. Dr Gill was also quoted in ‘Letter from Europe’ in the New York Times on the choice of the next Secretary General of NATO.

Dr Paul Holtom, SIPRI Senior Researcher, was interviewed on the Russian arms trade by Time.

Chin-hao Huang, SIPRI Researcher, commented on China’s expanding military power and implications for the West in Mediapart and in the Finnish daily Hufvudstadbladet.

Shannon Kile, SIPRI Senior Researcher, was interviewed on the issue of North Korea by the Finnish daily Hufvudstadsbladet.

Linda Jakobson, SIPRI Senior Researcher, was interviewed on China’s foreign policy by Xinhua and the People’s Daily. She was also interviewed on China’s climate policy by Swedish Radio’s science programme Klotet and by the Finnish daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat on the occasion of the G20 meeting.

Pieter D. Wezeman, SIPRI Senior Researcher, commented on Sudan’s role in arms transfers to the Middle East for Voice of America.

One year after Russia’s unilateral suspension of the 1990 Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE Treaty), it is time to reassess the condition and prospects of the CFE regime. This Policy Brief gives an overview of the issues that have dogged the CFE process and that led to the Russian action. It outlines the situation that the parties to the treaty find themselves in now and assesses the prospects for conventional arms control in Europe.

This paper details and analyses UN member states’ reporting of international transfers of small arms and light weapons (SALW) to the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms (UNROCA) for 2007. It complements a similar study that covers the years 2003–2006. It concludes that the level of reporting on international transfers of SALW is now high enough that the UNROCA Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) should reconsider the establishment of a new, eighth UNROCA category of SALW. The paper gives recommendations on how the new category could be established and how it would function.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of China’s first contributions to a UN peacekeeping operation. This Policy Brief examines the dramatic expansion in Chinese involvement in UN peacekeeping activities and makes recommendations to the international community on how to engage with China in order to strengthen its commitment to regional stability, ensure greater convergence between Chinese and other international interests on questions of regional security, and encourage more effective international peacekeeping operations.

Non-lethal weapons are intended to incapacitate personnel or matériel without injuring people. This Policy Paper describes and analyses biological and chemical substances that have the potential to be used as weapons or can improve the efficacy of other, more traditional, weapons. Potential loopholes in the international prohibitions against chemical and biological warfare are presented together with practical, politically feasible and technically useful policy options.

Chemical and biological substances may be used to incapacitate or influence human behaviour and can be used in both wars and other conflict situations, including for peacekeeping and some counterterrorism operations. The possible applications of science and technology for developing such agents are also expanding. This Policy Paper strikes the right balance between scientific detail and reader-friendliness to inform both the specialist and the generalist on this emergent and complex issue.

For information on SIPRI’s other recent and forthcoming books, visit the SIPRI Publications website, books.sipri.org.

Other recent publications by SIPRI authors