“Every man, woman and child lives under a nuclear sword of Damocles, hanging by the slenderest of threads, capable of being cut at any moment by accident or miscalculation or by madness. The weapons of war must be abolished before they abolish us.”

President John F. Kennedy to the UN General Assembly 1961 

My grandfather was enlisted in the RAF and was present during the British testing of nuclear weapons at Christmas Island, he got to witness first-hand the power of the weapons. He told me the island itself was beautiful, however his description of nuclear tests was vastly different. Even though he was instructed to cover his eyes, the bright light of the explosion could still be seen through his hands. Even from many miles away he and his comrades still felt the blast and when they had the chance to see the mushroom cloud, they were in awe. After this experience he received little medical information about what could have happened to him as a result of the test. To this day many servicemembers like him do not know for sure if the nuclear tests impacted them medically for the rest of their lives. This story from my grandfather has prompted me to explore the history of these weapons and the organization that could help abolish them in this blog post. 

Nuclear Weapon History 

Humanity has faced the prospect of extinction from the final year of WWII in 1945 when the United States dropped two nuclear bombs in Japan on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The destruction that was brought upon the cities was brutal and horrific.  The world saw the power that atomic weapons could wield and unleash, and this led to other powerful states developing and obtaining their own nuclear weapons. One of those states being the Soviet Union and the rivalry between the US and the Soviet Union ever increased in the form of a Cold War. 

The Cold War was cold because there was never any official declaration of war or open military conflict between the two rivals, however there was obvious signs of hostile tension, and it could be seen in nuclear arms race occurred between both states. The US and the Soviet Union developed, increased, and strategically placed their nuclear weapons to stay ahead of one another. As tensions increased, the chances of civilization being wiped out from nuclear weapons increased too. This is because the weapons became greater in quantity, capacity for destruction and ability to reach their targets. Imagine if one weapon could wipe out a city killing hundreds of thousands even millions, imagine what thousands of nuclear weapons could do with far superior technology when compared to the weapons used in Japan. 

This is why now we as a species should move towards a future that is free from the threat of nuclear annihilation. One organization we could be visiting in Geneva that is trying to create a nuclear weapons free world is the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA). 

United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs Who Are They? 

UNODA has offices located in Switzerland, Austria, Peru, Togo, and Nepal and the general purpose of UNODA is make world a safer and more peaceful place by supporting states and non-state actors with reducing their military capabilities, in particular the disarmament of WMDs. The Under-Secretary General and High Representative for UNODA is Izumi Nakamitsu who assumed the role in May 2017. The branch in Switzerland has the main function of supporting the Conference on Disarmament by providing organizational support and is made up of 14 staff. The Conference on Disarmament is a multilateral negotiation forum that as the name says has the purpose of facilitating dialogue on the disarmament of nuclear weapons.  

The UNODA has links with and works very closely with other UN organizations such as the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), United Nations General Assembly (GA) and the United Nations Disarmament Commision. These links are crucial for reaching their goal of disarmament due to the members present in each organization and each organizations purpose and relative authority.  

The Barriers to Disarmament 

If disarmament were easy to achieve it is likely we would have achieved, it by now but what is preventing it? 

One of the biggest barriers is that the international system is anarchic, meaning there is no overarching authority that can remove nuclear weapons and the states in this system must fend for themselves and ensure their survival. The introduction of nuclear weapons into the international system impacts the power differences between states. In this first example if two states have no nuclear weapons and in a military conflict with one another it is the one with greater conventional military power and support would be the victor. However, if the weaker state had nuclear capabilities the power dynamics would change as the more powerful state would be deterred from attempting a direct conflict with this nation as it would risk being destroyed by nuclear weapons. If both had nuclear weapons neither would attempt attack the other as they risk mutually assured destruction (MAD). This barrier of deterrence shows that the defensive advantage is a massive barrier that UNODA will need to consider when attempting achieve disarmament. UNODA will need to help create peaceful post-disarmament conditions or the risk of conventional warfare will return.  

Another barrier is the lack of mutual trust and rivalry nations can have for one another. If all nations promise to disarm, what is preventing one from not fulfilling their promise. As we seen with the arms race in the Cold War the Soviet Union and the US had poor relations and tried to gain an advantage over one another, this case could be applied to why disarmament of nuclear weapons is a near impossible task. 

These two barriers alone identify that the problem is not necessarily the nuclear weapons but the states themselves and the international system itself, which therefore leads to the question of what UNODA is doing to help relax these barriers to create a safer world. 

UNODA In Their Efforts to Bring About Disarmament 

UNODA has a significant role in helping to create the conditions possible for peace and assisting the talks on disarmament. They attempt to support norm-setting, multilateral agreements, and facilitate dialogue through the General Assembly, the Disarmament Commission, and the Conference on Disarmament using dialogue with stakeholders, conference building, and the promotion of solutions for sustainable peace and development. I expect that I will learn more about which stakeholders are important to consider, in terms of how vital they are for negotiations, their stake in the matter and how to include them properly.  

UNODA has supported the 2023 Conference on Disarmament, the High Representative for UNODA provided support to the negotiations in their opening remarks by providing a summary of what has occurred in the past year and addressing the issue of global tensions and what is still required in pursuit of global disarmament. This use of their opening statement helped to ensure that the conference remained on track and provide information that gave a greater understanding of the events over the past that would give the meeting some confidence to reach the end goal. 

The High Representative for UNODA has also supported organizations such as ICAN with verbal support by providing solutions for achieving disarmament. Those solutions being that states partied to the TPNW should continue to condemn nuclear blackmail and states not party to the TPNW should consider the normative value and operation that the treaty brings. States that do not take up the TPNW should consider alternative routes that could lead to progress on nuclear disarmament such as nuclear disarmament verification and study of the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, which would allow for cooperation between states that are party to the TPNW and those that are not because they can work on these other issues. Civil society should hold both their governments and UN accountable for their progress towards a nuclear-free world. 

UNODA and Japan have agreed to put in place better education for young people in educating them on destruction that nuclear weapons could bring if left unchecked. The programme agreed will attempt to allow young people to meet with key actors and other experts in nuclear disarmament and to bring greater attention to Hiroshima and Nagasaki to provide real world examples of the destructive potential of nuclear weapons. This action should provide more attention to the issue of disarmament and support for international disarmament and if educated at younger age individuals that become future leaders can make the right decision toward a safer world. 

Questions for UNODA 

I hope to learn more about UNODA’s work on nuclear disarmament and if we visit them I would ask the following questions:

What conditions, if any, are required to create a nuclear weapons free world? 

Which countries/individuals/groups pose a challenge for disarmament? 

Are there any threats equivalent or greater than nuclear weapons, if so which threats? 

Are there any changes you think UNODA can implement to their organizational structure or the operations to become more effective? 

What experience, skills and education does an individual require to work with UNODA? 

How does UNODA reach out to relevant stakeholders for negotiations?