Lessons from the Chemical Weapons Convention Negotiations and Implementation for the Diplomatic Challenges of Negotiating ‘Irreversibility’

Abstract

ABSTRACTNegotiating an international disarmament treaty that has as one of its core requirements the concept of “irreversibility” will be a major task, especially so if the aim is to ensure that nuclear weapons and the means of their production and maintenance are irreversibly destroyed. The task exists on several levels: the practical and technical – how to design and implement an effective verification regime, the legal – how to frame necessary treaty definitions, prohibitions and controls; and diplomatic – negotiating and agreeing on the treaty provisions and the temporal factors. The Chemical Weapons Convention’s main objective is the destruction of chemical weapons and their production facilities, but an equally important objective is prevention of their re-emergence. At the heart of the matter is the concept of dual-use where materials and facilities have both legitimate peaceful purposes and actual or potential for hostile purposes, and the basic starting materials required exist in nature. The same applies in the nuclear context. So what can we learn from the CWC? A treaty with nuclear irreversibility as its goal will face multiple challenges. Setting and agreeing treaty language that is clear on scope and enables trouble-free implementation over many decades will not be easily achieved given the record of existing and previous arms control and disarmament treaties. However, there is likely to be one crucial difference: a treaty with nuclear irreversibility as its sole purpose will not be negotiated and implemented in the sort of conflicted world that we saw during the Cold War.

Keywords

• Nuclear irreversibility
• arms control and disarmament
• chemical weapons
• chemical weapons convention
• international treaties and agreements
• treaty negotiations and national implementation