International disarmament efforts heavily rely on international treaties and politically binding agreements. More than 70 years after the UN Charter, the international community has adopted an impressive number of multilateral instruments on disarmament, arms control, and non-proliferation. Some, like the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention, have become core pillars of international security. Others, such as the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, offer significant protection and assistance to civilians, changing how wars are fought. States and civil society continue to propose new initiatives for international regulations of weapons and technologies.

Yet multilateral disarmament regimes face significant challenges. New technologies, increasing geopolitical tensions between major military powers, and growing multipolarity create stress on legal regimes. In certain cases, such as the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty, parties have decided these agreements no longer serve their interests and have withdrawn. Despite the Chemical Weapons Convention, there have been repeated chemical weapon attacks in Syria and elsewhere.

What are the trends to be drawn from the existing disarmament instruments and recent developments? Are there lessons regarding which elements should be in a disarmament treaty from a legal perspective? What works, what does not, and what are inherent dilemmas? And how does this fit with international humanitarian law and other regulations related to weapons?

The Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) and the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) will host a panel discussion on these questions which will be moderated by Renata Dwan, Director of UNIDIR.

The new Guide to International Disarmament Law (Routledge, 2019), as well as the new DisarmApp will be formally presented during the panel. The co-authors of the book, Stuart Casey-Maslen and Tobias Vestner, will join the discussions, among others.


Introductory remarks: Ambassador Felix Baumann, Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the Conference on Disarmament;
Andrey Belousov, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations Office at Geneva; Head, Conference on Disarmament Team;
Stuart Casey-Maslen, Honorary Professor at the University of Pretoria and co-author of The Guide to International Disarmament Law;
Silvia Cattaneo, Policy Advisor, Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD);
Tobias Vestner, Head of Security and Law Programme at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) and co-author of The Guide to International Disarmament Law.

The event will be preceded by a sandwich lunch for participants.