CYIL vol. 10 (2019)

RAINER HOFMANN – CORNELIA KIRCHBACH

CYIL 10 ȍ2019Ȏ

Introduction The importance of disarmament corresponds to the fact that it is one of the means of ensuring the international security through military strategies. The relationship between disarmament and international security is also reflected in Article 11 (1) of the UN Charter. The General Assembly can discuss the general principles of collaboration in the maintenance of international peace and security , including the principles of managing the disarmament and arms control, and can make recommendations on these principles to members, to the Security Council, or to both. However, the concept of disarmament is not defined in the UN Charter. Disarmament can be characterized as a process of reducing the number of armed forces and military expenses, destroying or eliminating weapons, whether deployed or stored, the gradual disposal of the capacity to produce new weapons, the release and inclusion of military personnel into the civilian life 1 . Besides the concept of disarmament, the concept of armament limitation is often used, for example it is contained in Article 8 of Covenant of the League of Nations of 1919, but also in a number of other international treaties. Arms control is also referred to as the agreed or unilateral measure that quantitatively and qualitatively limits the arms, armed forces, etc. 2 . It is also used in bilateral agreements between the USSR / Russia and the USA (SALT, START I, START II, START etc.). Disarmament and arms control are today regulated by international treaties, bilateral and multilateral. The most important are the treaties relevant to the nuclear weapons. One of the most important treaties in this area is the multilateral Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons of 1968. Nuclear powers still consider the nuclear weapons as a mean of the nuclear deterrence and hence as a tool of protection of their own sovereignty and existence. On the contrary, the use of nuclear weapons could lead to a threat to humanity’s existence. In this context, the arms reduction and disarmament treaties are one means of ensuring international security. Consequently, the termination of such treaty may have an impact on international security. As a result, states can worry about their security and feel threatened in the area of their highest interests. In the past two decades, the contracting party has withdrawn in several cases from the treaty on disarmament and the limitation of armaments, or has suspended the treaty. The current announcement of the USA withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty of 1987, which was concluded between the USA and the former Soviet Union, is a good example. The treaty is considered the basis of nuclear safety in Europe, and its termination, caused by the withdrawal of the USA, gives rise to concerns, especially among European states, about peace and security in Europe. 1. Specifics of the treaties on arms control and disarmament and the question of the application of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties Treaties on arms control and disarmament are much more dependent on international political conditions compared to the contracts in other areas. They address sensitive issues of national security. Hence, states are willing to conclude such contracts, provided that the treaty will not disadvantage them and, thus, will not be a threat to their own security. In the historical development of the 20th century, in time of mistrust between states, fears of 1 POTOČNÝ, M., ONDŘEJ, J. Mezinárodní právo veřejné – Zvláštní část . [Public International Law – Special part]. 6. vydání. Praha: C.H. Beck, 2011, p. 396. 2 Ibid.

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