On 11 December 2019, GCSP co-organised a roundtable jointly with the SCRAP Project and Quaker UN Office on the topic: “Why a New Treaty? Challenges and opportunities to promote general and complete disarmament”. The session was moderated by Lidia Matias (SCRAP Project), and included presentations by Marc Finaud (GCSP), Dr Dan Plesch (SCRAP Project), and Jenifer Mackby (Federation of American Scientists).

The SCRAP (Strategic Concept for Removal of Arms and Proliferation) proposal initiated by the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy (CISD) of SOAS-University of London began as a provocation to those who believed that multilateral and comprehensive disarmament, both conventional and nuclear, was impossible. It contains a draft negotiating text and an explanatory memorandum concerning the basic elements of an internationally legally binding arrangement for general and complete disarmament within a ten-year implementation period pursuant to Article VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).  

At this roundtable, the concept of general and complete disarmament, its history, its relevance to today’s security context were discussed as well as challenges such as verification mechanisms or ways to convince states of joining a comprehensive treaty rather than supporting by a piece-meal approach or bilateral/regional agreements. The possible means of re-introducing this discussion into the next NPT Review Conference were also examined.

To discover more about what the GCSP is doing on Arms Proliferation, click here.