A few weeks ago I posted about the formation of the UN Eminent Persons Group...basically a bunch of lefty ex-statesmen. They had a meeting:
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
For Private, Non-commercial use only
UN Diplomatic Times
Vol. 1 No. 4
4 November 1999
TIME TO ERADICATE ILLICIT SMALL ARMS
By P. V. Narasimha Rao
Over 500 million small arms are estimated to be in circulation globally, and
they have been the primary instruments of carnage in 47 of the 49 post Cold
War conflicts. They are responsible for 90 per cent of the casualties of
those wars. Some 200,000 deaths every year are ascribed to small arms.
The growing menace of illicit small arms confronts the international
community with the need for immediate action. With most small arms production
concentrated in the First World and a majority of recipients in the Third
World, the issue has a core North-South dimension.
I am glad that political awareness on this issue has led the UN to convene an
international conference by 2001. A plethora of initiatives notwithstanding,
concerns persist that the economic and political interests of the few may
hinder a peaceful future for the many. If the right to life is universal,
then in the final analysis small arms are a human rights issue. I strongly
support political and legal measures to eradicate illicit small arms.
In South Asia the control and early elimination of illicit small arms is of
crucial importance, for it is threatening social and political development.
Scarce resources are being diverted to the security area from development and
essential social services. Civil strife disrupts trade, tourism and
investment. As a result, human rights abuses are on an increase and democracy
and economic progress are put at risk.
Beyond threatening intra-State stability, flows of illicit small arms
heighten inter-State conflicts. Increased flows in Kashmir and some other
parts of India, including its heartland, have exacerbated the culture of guns
very substantially. Tensions between India and Pakistan are in part due to
the violence of free-lance terrorism. The dangers for regional stability
inherent in a conventional conflagration fuelled by illicit small arms are
great. This is especially so because cross-border terrorist groups have begun
to align themselves with criminal elements throughout the region. I
understand that there are now regular links between political and criminal
groups in Kashmir and Mumbai, as well as in Karachi and Mumbai. The growing
control of crime over civil society poses serious dangers to internal peace
in the countries concerned.
The nascent global movement to address th menace of small arms is, as yet,
lacking perhaps in focus and direction. The complex dualities of the
connection between illicit arms and the legal trade have proved too daunting
a challenge, but inaction on that score would be unconscionable.
The Eminent Persons Group fully supports a multisectoral and comprehensive
approach to the small arms issue and commends the International Action
Network on Small Arms (IANSA) for its leadership. Its own specific
contribution to the emerging global campaign on small arms will be to focus
on the supply side of the illicit trade in the hope of gaining multilateral
support for efforts to combat and eradicate that trade. As a sub-campaign of
the larger IANSA-led effort, EPG will fulfil a corollary public diplomacy
function aimed at mobilizing political will throughout the international
community. It hopes to participate activeley in IANSA and work closely with
UN member States, the Secretariat and non-governmental organizations.
P. V. Narasimha Rao is a former Prime Minister of India.
He is a member of the Eminent Persons Group on Curbing Illicit Trafficking In
Small Arms and Light Weapons.
[/quote]
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
For Private, Non-commercial use only
UN Diplomatic Times
Vol. 1 No. 4
4 November 1999
SMALL ARMS IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF HISTORY
By Michel Rocard
The 6,000 years of human history have produced tens of thousands of wars
(defining war as a conflict that kills more than a thousand persons a year).
The gradual emergence of the concept of the nation-State in the 18th and
especially the 19th centuries helped modify to a considerable extent the
geopolitics of violence. Till then, wars were usually local and the stakes
had ethnic, linguistic or religious connotations but were principally about
power and the control of territory. The consecration of the nation-State
brought about a degree of order. Internal wars became more difficult and less
common. But there was the major, devastating innovation of international war.
In the aftermath of the savagery of the First World War, people began to talk
about disarmament for the first time in history, and public demand led to the
founding of the League of Nations.
The League of Nations was made ineffective by the lack of participation by
the United States and its eventual failure precipiated the Second World War.
With the systematic extermination of the Jewish and Gypsy peoples, the
atrocities committed in China, Korea and the Philippines, and two nuclear
bombs, the historic pinnacle of horror seemed to have been reached. In its
wake, the first real effort by nations to organize peace led to the creation
of the United Nations.
For 45 years, the UN system was paralyzed by the Cold War, a struggle between
two wills intent on ruling the world. The stakes were such that each super
power put a good deal of resolve and energy into maintaining order in its
camp. Small wars declined in frequency and major conflicts were confined to
the regions, where they did not affect the balance of power.
It was during the Cold War, in the wake of he Cuban missile crisis, that
Soviet and American leaders realized the futility and danger of their
confrontation and began a new historical phase: real negotiations to
restrict, reduce and prohibit armaments. The initial focus was on nuclear
non-proliferation and on limiting strategic nuclear arms. Both expended
steadily. Bacteriological weapons were banned in 1972. After the end of the
Cold War, the United States and Russian Federation took on the job of
reducing their strategic nuclear weapons. In 1993, a Chemical Weapons
Convention was signed. The 1997 Ottawa Treaty banning anti-personnel land
mines broadened the process further.
Meanwhile, the end of the Cold War eroded the control of the super powers,
and a variety of ethnic, linguistic and religious conflicts broke out, fought
mainly by civilians with small arms. The deadliest weapons are now pistols,
machine guns and machetes. Efforts to control such weapons can take many
courses, and nations will be hyper-sensitive about many of them. The matter
is infinitely complex, but it must be grasped. The Eminent Persons Group is
dedicated to that end.
Michel Rocard is a former Prime Minister of France.
He serves as co-chairperson of the
Eminent Persons Group on Curbing Illicit Trafficking In Small Arms And Light
Weapons. [/quote]
------------------
"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes" RKBA!
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
For Private, Non-commercial use only
UN Diplomatic Times
Vol. 1 No. 4
4 November 1999
TIME TO ERADICATE ILLICIT SMALL ARMS
By P. V. Narasimha Rao
Over 500 million small arms are estimated to be in circulation globally, and
they have been the primary instruments of carnage in 47 of the 49 post Cold
War conflicts. They are responsible for 90 per cent of the casualties of
those wars. Some 200,000 deaths every year are ascribed to small arms.
The growing menace of illicit small arms confronts the international
community with the need for immediate action. With most small arms production
concentrated in the First World and a majority of recipients in the Third
World, the issue has a core North-South dimension.
I am glad that political awareness on this issue has led the UN to convene an
international conference by 2001. A plethora of initiatives notwithstanding,
concerns persist that the economic and political interests of the few may
hinder a peaceful future for the many. If the right to life is universal,
then in the final analysis small arms are a human rights issue. I strongly
support political and legal measures to eradicate illicit small arms.
In South Asia the control and early elimination of illicit small arms is of
crucial importance, for it is threatening social and political development.
Scarce resources are being diverted to the security area from development and
essential social services. Civil strife disrupts trade, tourism and
investment. As a result, human rights abuses are on an increase and democracy
and economic progress are put at risk.
Beyond threatening intra-State stability, flows of illicit small arms
heighten inter-State conflicts. Increased flows in Kashmir and some other
parts of India, including its heartland, have exacerbated the culture of guns
very substantially. Tensions between India and Pakistan are in part due to
the violence of free-lance terrorism. The dangers for regional stability
inherent in a conventional conflagration fuelled by illicit small arms are
great. This is especially so because cross-border terrorist groups have begun
to align themselves with criminal elements throughout the region. I
understand that there are now regular links between political and criminal
groups in Kashmir and Mumbai, as well as in Karachi and Mumbai. The growing
control of crime over civil society poses serious dangers to internal peace
in the countries concerned.
The nascent global movement to address th menace of small arms is, as yet,
lacking perhaps in focus and direction. The complex dualities of the
connection between illicit arms and the legal trade have proved too daunting
a challenge, but inaction on that score would be unconscionable.
The Eminent Persons Group fully supports a multisectoral and comprehensive
approach to the small arms issue and commends the International Action
Network on Small Arms (IANSA) for its leadership. Its own specific
contribution to the emerging global campaign on small arms will be to focus
on the supply side of the illicit trade in the hope of gaining multilateral
support for efforts to combat and eradicate that trade. As a sub-campaign of
the larger IANSA-led effort, EPG will fulfil a corollary public diplomacy
function aimed at mobilizing political will throughout the international
community. It hopes to participate activeley in IANSA and work closely with
UN member States, the Secretariat and non-governmental organizations.
P. V. Narasimha Rao is a former Prime Minister of India.
He is a member of the Eminent Persons Group on Curbing Illicit Trafficking In
Small Arms and Light Weapons.
[/quote]
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
For Private, Non-commercial use only
UN Diplomatic Times
Vol. 1 No. 4
4 November 1999
SMALL ARMS IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF HISTORY
By Michel Rocard
The 6,000 years of human history have produced tens of thousands of wars
(defining war as a conflict that kills more than a thousand persons a year).
The gradual emergence of the concept of the nation-State in the 18th and
especially the 19th centuries helped modify to a considerable extent the
geopolitics of violence. Till then, wars were usually local and the stakes
had ethnic, linguistic or religious connotations but were principally about
power and the control of territory. The consecration of the nation-State
brought about a degree of order. Internal wars became more difficult and less
common. But there was the major, devastating innovation of international war.
In the aftermath of the savagery of the First World War, people began to talk
about disarmament for the first time in history, and public demand led to the
founding of the League of Nations.
The League of Nations was made ineffective by the lack of participation by
the United States and its eventual failure precipiated the Second World War.
With the systematic extermination of the Jewish and Gypsy peoples, the
atrocities committed in China, Korea and the Philippines, and two nuclear
bombs, the historic pinnacle of horror seemed to have been reached. In its
wake, the first real effort by nations to organize peace led to the creation
of the United Nations.
For 45 years, the UN system was paralyzed by the Cold War, a struggle between
two wills intent on ruling the world. The stakes were such that each super
power put a good deal of resolve and energy into maintaining order in its
camp. Small wars declined in frequency and major conflicts were confined to
the regions, where they did not affect the balance of power.
It was during the Cold War, in the wake of he Cuban missile crisis, that
Soviet and American leaders realized the futility and danger of their
confrontation and began a new historical phase: real negotiations to
restrict, reduce and prohibit armaments. The initial focus was on nuclear
non-proliferation and on limiting strategic nuclear arms. Both expended
steadily. Bacteriological weapons were banned in 1972. After the end of the
Cold War, the United States and Russian Federation took on the job of
reducing their strategic nuclear weapons. In 1993, a Chemical Weapons
Convention was signed. The 1997 Ottawa Treaty banning anti-personnel land
mines broadened the process further.
Meanwhile, the end of the Cold War eroded the control of the super powers,
and a variety of ethnic, linguistic and religious conflicts broke out, fought
mainly by civilians with small arms. The deadliest weapons are now pistols,
machine guns and machetes. Efforts to control such weapons can take many
courses, and nations will be hyper-sensitive about many of them. The matter
is infinitely complex, but it must be grasped. The Eminent Persons Group is
dedicated to that end.
Michel Rocard is a former Prime Minister of France.
He serves as co-chairperson of the
Eminent Persons Group on Curbing Illicit Trafficking In Small Arms And Light
Weapons. [/quote]
------------------
"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes" RKBA!