Council Special Report on Small Arms and Light Weapons

Project

Council Special Report on Small Arms and Light Weapons

Staff:	William L. Nash, Adjunct Senior Fellow for Military Affairs and Director of the Military Fellows Program
Author:	Reuben E. Brigety

December 2006 - Novemer 2007

A major task of early warning of violent conflict is to understand the linkage between political, economic, and social sources and triggers of violence and larger, systemic issues that consistently contribute to unrest. One such dynamic is the international proliferation and trade, licit and illicit, in small arms and light weapons (SALW). This forthcoming report will review the current state of the global SALW problem, examine the U.S. policies for tackling the problem, and then propose tangible, realistic steps for the United States to address SALW proliferation and misuse as a form of systemic conflict prevention.

Meetings
Further Readings

Meetings

Council Special Report on Small Arms and Light Weapons: Second Advisory Committee Meeting

Advisory Committee

March 7, 2007

Chair:	William L. Nash, General John W. Vessey Senior Fellow for Conflict Prevention and Director of the Center for Preventive Action, The Council on Foreign Relations
Speaker:	Reuben E. Brigety, U.S. Agency for International Development

Council Special Report on Small Arms and Light Weapons: First Advisory Committee Meeting

Advisory Committee

January 5, 2007

Chair:	William L. Nash, General John W. Vessey Senior Fellow for Conflict Prevention and Director of the Center for Preventive Action, The Council on Foreign Relations
Speaker:	Reuben E. Brigety, U.S. Agency for International Development

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Oxfam: The AK-47: the world's favourite killing machine

A second arms control report from Oxfam, focusing on the Kalashnikov assault rifle, the most widespread military weapon in the world, with an estimated 50-70 million spread across the world’s five continents. They are used daily by soldiers, fighters, and gang members to inflict untold suffering in many countries. The spread of these weapons continues largely unchecked by governments, threatening the lives and safety of millions as weapons fall into irresponsible hands. More than ever, the Kalashnikov rifle is the weapon of choice for many armies, militias, armed gangs, law enforcement officials, rebels, and other private actors who abuse fundamental human rights and operate beyond the international humanitarian law parameters laid down by the Geneva Conventions and other relevant international law. Oxfam argues that following the UN Review Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in mid-2006, governments should agree at the UN General Assembly in October 2006 to negotiate a new global Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) to regulate international transfers of all conventional arms, including military assault rifles.

February 23, 2007

Oslo Declaration on Cluster Munitions

Declaration

January 2006

Oxfam: The call for tough arms controls: Voices from Afghanistan

A report from Oxfam from early 2006 on arms controls in the context of Afghanistan, which has one of the highest concentrations of guns per person in the world. Oxfam says there may be up to 10 million small arms circulating in a country which has a population of 23 million, with the result that the culture of the gun has become deeply embedded, and the presence of firearms has a fundamental impact on democracy, development, and security. Oxfam argues that foreign governments have been instrumental in arming Afghanistan’s warring sides in the past, and that their responsibility now is to ensure that arms supplies do not fall into the wrong hands. In short, the rest of the world must take responsibility for the arms that it supplies. To do that, governments should agree a new international Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).

March 16, 2006

UN arms embargoes: an overview of the last ten years

Author:	Oliver Sprague

Oxfam details flaws in the UN arms embargo system that lead to widespread violations. The report urges improved monitoring and verification to combat the problem.

December 29, 2005

U.S. Arms Sales: Agreements with and Deliveries to Major Clients, 1997-2004

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The Global Finance Regime

Explore the international finance regime with a new interactive from CFR's program on International Institutions and Global Governance.

New Council Special Reports

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Identifying international threats and acting on them may be the most difficult job for U.S. policymakers. This report provides an actionable road map for managing international threats before they erupt into crises and makes a strong case that preventive action is not a luxury but a necessity.

The United States in the New Asia

For more than a decade, the United States has mostly watched from the sidelines as Asian countries organize themselves into an alphabet soup of new multilateral groups. In this report, the authors review the relationship between pan-Asian and trans-Pacific institutions and suggest policy guidelines for a new U.S. approach to this new Asian landscape.

Complete list of Council Special Reports

New Books

Start-Up Nation addresses the trillion-dollar question: How is it that Israel—a country of 7.1 million, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies— produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the UK? With the insights of geopolitical experts and investors, the authors examine this nation’s adversity-driven culture to answer this question and offer prescriptions for a global economy on the rebound.

In Forces of Fortune, Vali Nasr presents a paradigm-changing revelation that will transform the understanding of the Muslim world at large. He reveals that there is a vital but unseen rising force in the Islamic world—a new business-minded middle class—that is building a vibrant new Muslim world economy and that holds the key to winning the cold war against Iran and extremists.

In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba's unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.

Complete list of CFR Books

David Rockefeller Studies Program Contacts

For more information on the David Rockefeller Studies Program, contact:

James M. Lindsay
Senior Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair
+1.212.434.9626 (NY); +1.202.509.8405 (DC)
jlindsay@cfr.org

Janine Hill
Deputy Director of Studies Administration
+1.212.434.9753
jhill@cfr.org

Project