Arms Control
70 Articles
UK Parliamentary Committee Draft Report Calls for Pause in Weapons Exports to Saudi Arabia
This post was first published at 12:45am. A powerful body of the UK Parliament, the Committees of Arms Export Controls, has stated in a draft report that billions of dollars in…
The Law of Aiding and Abetting (Alleged) War Crimes: How to Assess US and UK Support for Saudi Strikes in Yemen
US and UK support for Saudi-led military operations in Yemen have received significant attention recently due to reports of strikes that damaged or destroyed hospitals, schools,…
State Responsibility for Assistance to Foreign Forces (aka How to Assess US-UK Support for Saudi Ops in Yemen)
Airstrikes in Yemen by the Saudi-led coalition have received increased attention in the last few weeks. In her recent post, Beth Van Schaack noted that in addition to the potential…
Give the Nuclear Framework a Chance
Based on an initial reading, I believe the framework for a nuclear agreement with Iran is worth trying to develop into a concrete deal, as long as the US-led coalition stays tough…
Guest Post: To Ban New Weapons or Regulate Their Use?
In January, I highlighted the apparent anomaly of international law’s ban on laser weapons that are “specifically designed … to cause permanent blindness” while permitting…
The Arms Trade Treaty Enters Into Force
On Christmas Eve, the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT, text here) entered into force in record time following the attainment of 50+ ratifications. The ATT is the first multilateral treaty…
UN Disarmament Board: New proposals to improve drone strike transparency and accountability
A new report of the UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters (full text) contains a number of recommendations related to both autonomous weapons and current…
U.S. Edges Back Toward Landmine Treaty Path
After an agonizing five-year wait, the US announced the initial results of its landmine policy review on June 27, the final day of the Mine Ban Treaty’s Third Review Conference…
Russian Treaty Violations: A Blast from the Past or an Omen for the Future
On July 28, the New York Times ran a story with the headline “U.S. Says Russia Tested Cruise Missile, Violating Treaty.” Surprisingly, this story about an arms control…
Update: Changes to Export Control Arrangement Intended to Apply to Surveillance Technology, not Exploits, but Confusion and Ambiguity Remain
Last month, we wrote a post raising the potential that recent changes to the Wassenaar Arrangement could apply to “zero-days” and other computer exploits. As we noted in our…