Jennifer Erickson
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231170963
- eISBN:
- 9780231539036
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231170963.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Conflict Politics and Policy
This book assesses the impact of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) that was approved by the United Nations in 2013 and which set legally binding standards to regulate global arms exports. It explores the ...
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This book assesses the impact of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) that was approved by the United Nations in 2013 and which set legally binding standards to regulate global arms exports. It explores the reasons top arms-exporting democracies have put aside past sovereignty, security and economic worries in favor of humanitarian arms transfer controls, and follows the early effects of this about-face on export practice. The book explains that this groundbreaking treaty reflects a growing concern that small and major conventional arms play a significant role in perpetuating human rights violations, conflict and societal instability worldwide. It shows that, while many countries once staunchly opposed shared export controls, they are now beginning to embrace numerous agreements, such as the ATT. The book begins with a brief history of failed modern arms-export control initiatives and then tracks arms transfer trends over time. It pinpoints the normative shifts in the 1990s that put humanitarian arms control on the table, and reveals that many states committed to these policies out of concern for their international reputations. It also highlights how arms-trade scandals threaten domestic reputations and thus help improve compliance. Using statistical data and interviews conducted in France, Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom and the United States, the book challenges existing IR theories of state behavior, while providing insight into both the role of reputation as a social mechanism and the importance of government transparency and accountability in generating compliance with new norms and rules.Less
This book assesses the impact of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) that was approved by the United Nations in 2013 and which set legally binding standards to regulate global arms exports. It explores the reasons top arms-exporting democracies have put aside past sovereignty, security and economic worries in favor of humanitarian arms transfer controls, and follows the early effects of this about-face on export practice. The book explains that this groundbreaking treaty reflects a growing concern that small and major conventional arms play a significant role in perpetuating human rights violations, conflict and societal instability worldwide. It shows that, while many countries once staunchly opposed shared export controls, they are now beginning to embrace numerous agreements, such as the ATT. The book begins with a brief history of failed modern arms-export control initiatives and then tracks arms transfer trends over time. It pinpoints the normative shifts in the 1990s that put humanitarian arms control on the table, and reveals that many states committed to these policies out of concern for their international reputations. It also highlights how arms-trade scandals threaten domestic reputations and thus help improve compliance. Using statistical data and interviews conducted in France, Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom and the United States, the book challenges existing IR theories of state behavior, while providing insight into both the role of reputation as a social mechanism and the importance of government transparency and accountability in generating compliance with new norms and rules.
Gro Nystuen and Kjølv Egeland
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- April 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780198722731
- eISBN:
- 9780191789496
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198722731.003.0011
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law, Human Rights and Immigration
The chapter evaluates the potential of the Arms Trade Treaty to identify and reduce violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law. It assesses the process and the outcome of the ...
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The chapter evaluates the potential of the Arms Trade Treaty to identify and reduce violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law. It assesses the process and the outcome of the negotiation of an Arms Trade Treaty, the first international instrument that makes an explicit link between arms export and its potential consequences in terms of violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law. The chapter presents the negotiation history of the ATT, comparing it to other recent treaty negotiations within humanitarian disarmament, and discusses the association between international law and peace studies. The main aim of the chapter is to present the ATT’s provisions concerning export control and in regulating the situations in which arms exports will be prohibited.Less
The chapter evaluates the potential of the Arms Trade Treaty to identify and reduce violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law. It assesses the process and the outcome of the negotiation of an Arms Trade Treaty, the first international instrument that makes an explicit link between arms export and its potential consequences in terms of violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law. The chapter presents the negotiation history of the ATT, comparing it to other recent treaty negotiations within humanitarian disarmament, and discusses the association between international law and peace studies. The main aim of the chapter is to present the ATT’s provisions concerning export control and in regulating the situations in which arms exports will be prohibited.
Jennifer L. Erickson
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231170963
- eISBN:
- 9780231539036
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231170963.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Conflict Politics and Policy
This introductory chapter presents the framework of the entire study premised on the case of arms trade and its policy controls. For producing states, the arms trade serves as a tool of foreign ...
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This introductory chapter presents the framework of the entire study premised on the case of arms trade and its policy controls. For producing states, the arms trade serves as a tool of foreign influence and military power, a source of national security and employment, as well as key to defense industry survival. For recipient states, the arms trade destabilizes fragmented countries, prolongs conflict, and increases the difficulty of postconflict reconstruction. This conflict of interests spurred the passage of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), which marked the beginning of restriction of small and major conventional arm trades to human rights violators and conflict zones. The chapter considers the domestic and international motives behind the commitment and compliance of various states with international policy initiatives such as the ATT, by examining the small and major arm export deliveries between years 1981 and 2010.Less
This introductory chapter presents the framework of the entire study premised on the case of arms trade and its policy controls. For producing states, the arms trade serves as a tool of foreign influence and military power, a source of national security and employment, as well as key to defense industry survival. For recipient states, the arms trade destabilizes fragmented countries, prolongs conflict, and increases the difficulty of postconflict reconstruction. This conflict of interests spurred the passage of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), which marked the beginning of restriction of small and major conventional arm trades to human rights violators and conflict zones. The chapter considers the domestic and international motives behind the commitment and compliance of various states with international policy initiatives such as the ATT, by examining the small and major arm export deliveries between years 1981 and 2010.
Sarah S. Stroup and Wendy H. Wong
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781501702143
- eISBN:
- 9781501709777
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501702143.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
States are the “natural” target for INGOs, yet how INGOs approach them depends on their authority. In this chapter, we demonstrate how leading INGOs use different strategies to work with states, ...
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States are the “natural” target for INGOs, yet how INGOs approach them depends on their authority. In this chapter, we demonstrate how leading INGOs use different strategies to work with states, using the case studies of negotiations over the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) and Financial Transactions Tax (FTT). The two cases are similar in a number of ways: the campaigns took off in the later 1990s, the issues target the practices of the United States and United Kingdom as relevant actors, and both engage issues that have traditionally been challenging for INGOs as “hard politics.” Leading INGOs are more collaborative with states than other INGOs, and prioritize easy target states, rather the most important. In both cases, the entry of leading INGOs accompanied the re-framing of the campaign’s proposals to more reformist positions. This yielded a vanilla victory in the form of the ATT and even less for the FTT.Less
States are the “natural” target for INGOs, yet how INGOs approach them depends on their authority. In this chapter, we demonstrate how leading INGOs use different strategies to work with states, using the case studies of negotiations over the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) and Financial Transactions Tax (FTT). The two cases are similar in a number of ways: the campaigns took off in the later 1990s, the issues target the practices of the United States and United Kingdom as relevant actors, and both engage issues that have traditionally been challenging for INGOs as “hard politics.” Leading INGOs are more collaborative with states than other INGOs, and prioritize easy target states, rather the most important. In both cases, the entry of leading INGOs accompanied the re-framing of the campaign’s proposals to more reformist positions. This yielded a vanilla victory in the form of the ATT and even less for the FTT.
Adam Bower
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198789871
- eISBN:
- 9780191831522
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198789871.003.0009
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This final chapter returns to the study’s original motivation: understanding whether, and when, multilateral treaties can serve as an effective means of generating international change under ...
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This final chapter returns to the study’s original motivation: understanding whether, and when, multilateral treaties can serve as an effective means of generating international change under conditions of great power ambivalence. It places the core case studies in their wider context by applying the hypothesized factors developed in Chapter 8 to examples of (a) other non-great power treaties; (b) concessions to great powers in order to secure their participation; and (c) the abandonment of binding agreements in the face of opposition in favour of informal arrangements or none at all. The preceding study has validated the initial interest in non-great power multilateralism, and has offered impetus for further detailed research to help scholars and policymakers alike better understand the promise and perils of this strategy. The chapter—and book—therefore concludes by proposing an agenda for academic research on non-great power institutions more generally.Less
This final chapter returns to the study’s original motivation: understanding whether, and when, multilateral treaties can serve as an effective means of generating international change under conditions of great power ambivalence. It places the core case studies in their wider context by applying the hypothesized factors developed in Chapter 8 to examples of (a) other non-great power treaties; (b) concessions to great powers in order to secure their participation; and (c) the abandonment of binding agreements in the face of opposition in favour of informal arrangements or none at all. The preceding study has validated the initial interest in non-great power multilateralism, and has offered impetus for further detailed research to help scholars and policymakers alike better understand the promise and perils of this strategy. The chapter—and book—therefore concludes by proposing an agenda for academic research on non-great power institutions more generally.