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Begin New Search Publishing Institution The Geneva Centre for Security Policy Author Marc Finaud

1. Cooperative Security: A New Paradigm for a World Without Nuclear Weapons?

Author:
Marc Finaud
Publication Date:
02-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Abstract:
If there is a loose consensus on aiming at a world free of nuclear weapons in the future, there are clear oppositions as to the time-frame as well as the means for achieving this goal. The approach to nuclear disarmament followed to date has only yielded limited success because it has been conceived in isolation of global and regional security environments and threat perceptions. A new paradigm should thus be sought in order to reconcile nuclear powers' security doctrines with the global aspirations for a safer world, and ensure that nuclear powers derive their security less from others' insecurity but from mutually beneficial cooperative security. This should not become a pretext for preserving nuclear weapons for ever. It will on the contrary require parallel tracks addressing the initial motivations for acquiring nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction (WMD), in particular in the context of regional conflicts, as well as dealing with the current issues necessarily related to nuclear disarmament (missile defence, weaponization of space, conventional imbalances and future weapon systems). Ultimately in a globalised nuclear-weapon free world, state security will not require nuclear weapons because it will be inserted into a broader network encompassing all aspects of security addressed in cooperative and multilateral approaches.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Security, Arms Control and Proliferation, Nuclear Weapons, Treaties and Agreements, and Weapons of Mass Destruction

2. A Middle East Free of Weapons of Mass Destruction: For a Comprehensive and Incremental Approach

Author:
Marc Finaud
Publication Date:
07-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Abstract:
The 2010 Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference reaffirmed “the importance of the Resolution on the Middle East adopted by the 1995 Review and Extension Conference”, which had been “an essential element of […] the basis on which the Treaty was indefinitely extended”. Indeed, Arab countries had joined consensus in exchange for a call on “all States in the Middle East” (including Israel) “to take practical steps […] aimed at making progress towards […] an effectively verifiable Middle East zone free of [WMD] and their delivery systems”, and on “all States party to the [NPT], and in particular the nuclear-weapon States […] with a view to ensuring the early establishment by regional parties of [such a zone]”. Fifteen years later, the 2010 Review Conference could understandably “regre[t] that little progress ha[d] been achieved”.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, War, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
Middle East and Arabia

3. Reinforcing Disarmament: Combating Illicit Trade in Weapons and Materials

Author:
Marc Finaud and Philipp Annawitt
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Abstract:
Illicit trade in weapons and materials poses serious challenges to states and disarmament regimes. Although small arms and light weapons (SALW) are quite different from weapons of mass destruction (WMD), both categories are in increasing demand by violent non-state actors, often in relation to organized crime and terrorist activities.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
Europe

4. The Role of Parliaments in Arms Control, Disarmament, and the Non-proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Author:
Marc Finaud
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Abstract:
From 30 March to 1 April 2011, a high-level workshop was organized for parliamentarians from countries belonging to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Partnership for Peace (PfP). The topic of this event was “The Role of Parliaments in Arms Control, Disarmament, and the Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)”. It was a joint initiative of the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF), the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP), the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, and the WMD Non-Proliferation Centre of NATO. Some thirty-five parliamentarians (including several former government ministers) from twenty-three countries attended the workshop along with the same number of staffers, government representatives, and independent experts.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, and NATO
Political Geography:
Europe

5. Safety and Security in the Biotechnological Age

Author:
Marc Finaud and Sunjay Chandiramani
Publication Date:
07-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Abstract:
In many ways, the world is at the beginning of what some are already calling the “Biological Century.” Discoveries in the life sciences have the potential to reshape the worlds of health, food production, energy, and climate change, to produce new fuels, heat- and drought-resistant food crops, and to eradicate deadly diseases. But biotechnological discoveries also have a dark side – potential immense harm may be caused through accidental or intentional release of designer pathogens. The globe is also facing a myriad of natural biological threats. Fifteen million people die each year of deadly infectious diseases, with new ones emerging every year, such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Avian Flu. In a world of 700 million international air passengers yearly, and almost all on flights shorter than the incubation period of infectious diseases, national health has become only as safe as global health.
Topic:
Security, International Cooperation, Treaties and Agreements, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
United Nations

6. The Role of the European Union in International Non-proliferation and Disarmament Assistance

Author:
Ian Anthony and Marc Finaud
Publication Date:
04-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Abstract:
While states are responsible for honouring any commitments to one another that they make, it has become obvious that they are not always capable of doing so. Where the failure to implement agreed undertakings reflects a lack of financial or technical capacity rather than a deliberate effort to undermine the terms of an agreement it is preferable for all parties to offer assistance rather than criticism and punishment. Since the end of the Cold War a new type of international cooperation has taken place as states have rendered practical assistance to one another to reduce common threats arising from weapons of mass destruction (WMD) as well as weapons-related materials and expertise. In broad terms this assistance has been of three types: facilitating the dismantlement and destruction of weapons; the establishment of a safe and secure chain of custody over weapons or other items; and demilitarization and conversion projects.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, and Arms Control and Proliferation
Political Geography:
Europe