On 18 December 2024, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) will host an online event via Zoom that will explore how states and international organizations can bridge the conflicting perspectives that were exposed during the adoption of the 2024 UN General Assembly resolution on international cooperation on peaceful uses.
The webinar will examine steps that have been taken to enable transfers of technology for peaceful uses and the role that national and multilateral export control measures play in either facilitating or hindering their diffusion. More broadly, it will explore how to achieve the twin goals of preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and conventional arms and supporting the sustainable development of developing countries by enabling the wider availability of advanced technologies.
Background
On 3 December the UN General Assembly approved a resolution on ‘Promoting international cooperation on peaceful uses in the context of international security’ by 105 votes in favour to 53 against. The resolution builds on similar resolutions adopted in 2021 and 2022. Submitted by China, and supported by a growing number of states, the resolutions criticize the use of national and multilateral export control measures to restrict transfers of technologies required by developing states for their sustainable development. The resolutions also imply that states are failing to honour commitments made in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and other disarmament and non-proliferation treaties to enable transfers of technology for ‘peaceful purposes’ or ‘peaceful uses’. Western states have argued that the resolutions ignore the way in which national and multilateral export controls—by building trust among states and ensuring peaceful end-uses—enable transfers of advanced technologies. They are also concerned that the resolutions could undermine the set of multilateral export control regimes that states have established. These regimes set global standards for arms and dual-use export controls and are facing various challenges.
The 2024 resolution calls on states to formulate ‘guiding principles as appropriate’ and places ‘promoting international cooperation on peaceful uses in the context of international security’ on the agenda of the UN First Committee in 2026.
Opening remarks
Laurin van der Haegen, Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
Moderator
Dr Mark Bromley, Dual-use and Arms Trade Control Programme, SIPRI
Speakers
Giovanna Maletta, Dual-use and Arms Trade Control Programme, SIPRI
Dr Crystal D. Pryor, Center for Policy Research, State University of New York Albany
Dr James Revill, WMD and Space Security Programmes, UNIDIR
This webinar forms part of a wider project on the future of the multilateral export control regimes which SIPRI is conducting with support from the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.
Click here to register