Hard and soft linkages between nuclear and conventional disarmament

Not surprising for an organization forged in the fires and carnage of the Second World War, the United Nations has from the beginning been preoccupied with the issue of disarmament. As noted earlier in this volume, it was the subject of the very first resolution passed by the General Assembly at its first session in 1946. That resolution created an Atomic Energy Commission, which among its tasks was to develop proposals “for the elimination from national armaments of atomic weapons and of all other major weapons adaptable to mass destruction”. It has also been noted that, while atomic weapons were singled out in this resolution, its scope was not limited to these and the direction was to eliminate all other weapons capable of mass slaughter. This tasking to abolish the most destructive weapons in national arsenals was situated in broader efforts aimed at the “early general regulation and reduction of armaments and armed forces”.

Related Subject(s): Disarmament