UNODA Occasional Papers No

MEETINGS PRESENTATIONS PAPERS SEMINARS STATEMENTS SYMPOSIA WORKSHOPS MEETINGS PRESENTATIONS PAPERS SEMI- NARS STATEMENTS SYMPOSIA WORKSHOPS MEETINGS PRESENTATIONS PAPERS SEMINARS STATEMENTS SYMPOSIA WORK- SHOPS MEETINGS PRESENTATIONS PAPERS SEMINARS STATEMENTS SYMPOSIA WORKSHOPS MEETINGS PRESENTATIONS PA- PERS SEMINARS STATEMENTS SYMPOSIA WORKSHOPS MEETINGS PRESENTATIONSUNODA PAPERS Occasional SEMINARS STATEMENTS Papers SYMPOSIA WORKSHOPS MEETINGS PRESENTATIONS PAPERS SEMINARS STATEMENTS SYMPOSIA WORKSHOPSNo. 26, June 2014 MEETINGS PRESENTATIONS PAPERS SEMINARS STATEMENTS SYMPOSIA WORKSHOPS MEETINGS PRESENTATIONS PAPERS SEMINARS STATEMENTS SYMPOSIA WORKSHOPS MEETINGS PRESENTATIONS PAPERS SEMINARS STATEMENTS SYMPOSIA WORKSHOPS MEETINGS PRESENTATIONS PAPERS SEMINARS STATEMENTS SYMPOSIA WORKSHOPS MEETINGS PRESENTATIONS PAPERS SEMINARS STATEMENTS SYMPOSIA WORKSHOPS MEETINGS PRESENTATIONS PAPERS SEMINARS STATEMENTS SYMPOSIA WORKSHOPS MEETINGS PRESENTATIONS PAPERS SEMINARS STATEMENTS SYMPOSIA WORKSHOPS MEETINGS PRESENTATIONS PAPERS SEMINARS STATEMENTS SYMPOSIA The New Zealand Lectures WORKSHOPS MEETINGS PRESENTATIONS PAPERS SEMINARS STATEMENTS SYMPOSIA WORKSHOPS MEETINGS PRESENTATIONS on Disarmament PAPERS SEMINARS STATEMENTS SYMPOSIA WORKSHOPS MEETINGS PRESENTATIONSby High PAPERS Representative SEMINARS Angela STATEMENTS Kane SYMPOSIA WORKSHOPS MEETINGS PRESENTATIONS PAPERS SEMINARS STATEMENTS SYMPOSIA WORKSHOPS MEETINGS PRESENTATIONS PAPERS SEMINARS STATEMENTS SYMPOSIA WORKSHOPS MEETINGS PRESENTATIONS PAPERS SEMINARS STATEMENTS SYMPOSIA WORKSHOPS MEETINGS PRESENTATIONS PAPERS SEMINARS STATEMENTS SYMPOSIA WORKSHOPS MEETINGS PRESENTATIONS PAPERS SEMINARS STATEMENTS SYMPOSIA WORKSHOPS MEETINGS PRESENTATIONS PAPERS SEMINARS STATEMENTS SYMPOSIA WORKSHOPS MEETINGS PRESENTATIONS PAPERS SEMINARS STATEMENTS SYMPOSIA WORKSHOPS MEETINGS PRESENTATIONS PAPERS SEMINARS STATEMENTS SYMPOSIA WORKSHOPS MEETINGS PRESENTATIONS PAPERS SEMINARS STATEMENTS SYMPOSIA WORKSHOPS MEETINGS PRESENTATIONS PAPERS SEMINARSISBN 978-92-1-142300-6 STATEMENTS SYMPOSIA WORKSHOPS MEETINGS PRESENTATIONS PAPERS SEMINARS STATEMENTS SYMPOSIA WORKSHOPS MEETINGS PRESENTATIONS PAPERS SEMINARS STATEMENTS SYMPOSIA WORKSHOPS MEETINGS PRESENTATIONS PAPERS SEMINARS STATEMENTS SYMPOSIA WORKSHOPS MEETINGS PRESENTATIONS 14-54975 PAPERS SEMINARS STATEMENTS SYMPOSIA WORKSHOPS MEETINGS PRESENTATIONS PAPERS SEMINARS STATEMENTS SYMPOSIA UNODA Occasional Papers No. 26, June 2014 The New Zealand Lectures on Disarmament by High Representative Angela Kane The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) Occasional Papers is a series of ad hoc publications presenting, in edited form, papers or statements made at meetings, symposiums, seminars, workshops or lectures that deal with topical issues in the field of arms limitation, disarmament and international security. They are intended primarily for those concerned with these matters in Government, civil society and in the academic community. Material appearing in UNODA Occasional Papers may be reprinted without permission, provided the credit line reads “Reprinted from UNODA Occasional Papers” and specifies the number of the Occasional Paper concerned. Notification to the following email address would be highly appreciated: [email protected]. Ms. Angela Kane gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Randy Rydell of the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs in the preparation of these lectures. This publication is available from www.un.org/disarmament UNITED NATIONS PUBLICATION Sales No. E.14.IX.8 ISBN 978-92-1-142300-6 eISBN 978-92-1-056817-3 Copyright © United Nations, 2014 All rights reserved Printed at the United Nations, New York Contents Foreword . v Preface . vii Disarmament: prospects, possibilities and potential pitfalls . 1 Remarks on a “nuclear-free world”: a United Nations perspective . 11 Disarmament: is the world listening to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s calls for progress? . 17 Remarks on parliaments and disarmament* . 29 Emerging issues and disarmament education . 35 The disarmament taboo . 43 iii Foreword New Zealand’s support for the United Nations and for multilateral approaches to global problems is long-standing and unwavering. Our commitment to the United Nations and to the rule of law is part and parcel of who we are. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the field of disarmament and arms control. As the United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Angela Kane, observes in one of the speeches published in this booklet, disarmament is seen as part of New Zealand’s very identity. Importantly, the same can also be said of the United Nations. The New Zealand Government was honoured when Ms. Kane accepted our invitation to visit New Zealand in April this year. The speeches she delivered at a range of venues provide a comprehensive stocktake of the prospects and challenges currently confronting disarmament and arms control efforts. Her balance sheet registers both progress, most notably in the field of conventional arms (in particular, last year’s historic adoption of the Arms Trade Treaty), and a lack of progress—especially as regards nuclear disarmament. This collection of High Representative Kane’s speeches makes the case for positive action. We need a much better balance sheet on nuclear disarmament and we need to advance other disarmament and arms control issues on the United Nations agenda. We hope that the publication of “The New Zealand Lectures on Disarmament” by High Representative Kane will help do this. Hon. Murray McCully New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs May 2014 v Preface The six lectures included in this Occasional Paper delve into many of the challenges facing the achievement—at long last—of a world free of nuclear weapons. It is no small coincidence that these lectures were delivered in New Zealand, given its rich heritage of efforts over many decades to tame the nuclear beast. This heritage is documented in many ways. It is apparent in the country’s nuclear-free zone legislation in 1987, which prohibited both nuclear weapons and nuclear-powered ships from entering its territory. It is seen in the cross-party political consensus in support of global nuclear disarmament that has been shared by successive governments and remains rooted deeply in public opinion. It resonates in the persistence of memories both sad and triumphal—from the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior to the final end of all nuclear tests in the Pacific. In our present nuclear age, with all of its great contradictions and double standards, how extraordinary it is to encounter a country whose foreign nuclear policies and commitments are fully in line with its domestic legislation. There is a congruency here that offers a model for other countries to follow—a model that will be essential to universalize in the final achievement of a nuclear-weapon-free world. This brief lecture series was conceived and made possible by one of the great practitioners of disarmament diplomacy, Dell Higgie—New Zealand’s indefatigable Ambassador for Disarmament. She has been among the leading voices of a humanitarian approach to disarmament, a subject that features prominently in these lectures. Frankly, the world needs more Dell Higgies—inspired leaders with eloquent voices and diplomatic skills to move the global nuclear disarmament agenda forward. The importance of this cause can scarcely be overstated. Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon has called nuclear disarmament a “global public good of the highest order” and its achievement would indeed serve the national interests of all States. If these lectures can contribute even in some small way to a wider understanding of this fundamental theme, vii they could well help in reviving that great missing ingredient in contemporary disarmament deliberations: political will. This is the spirit in which these lectures were presented—on this subject, in that country, in this year. Some were provocative. Some offered factual narratives. But all were intended to contribute in some modest way to that great marketplace of ideas that inspires concrete practical actions. So let the great debate continue. Let us all contribute to it. And let us never retire until the job is done. Angela Kane High Representative for Disarmament Affairs June 2014 viii Disarmament: prospects, possibilities and potential pitfalls Lecture hosted by: University of Auckland Faculty of Law and Department of Politics and International Relations New Zealand Institute of International Affairs (Auckland branch) International Law Association (Auckland sub-branch) Auckland, New Zealand 3 April 2014 Abstract The lecture discusses the future prospects, possibilities, and potential pitfalls for disarmament and arms control. It argues a continuing case for the prohibition and elimination of weapons of mass destruction and the limitation and reduction of conventional arms as a viable objective to pursue today. Ms. Kane explores three possible outcomes for nuclear disarmament. She also discusses nuclear weapon modernization programmes currently under way, as well as other pitfalls to nuclear disarmament. The unique role of the United Nations in supporting multilateral efforts towards disarmament and arms control is also addressed. Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa. In my business of disarmament, we are familiar with many taboos, and one of the most inviolable is the failure to express one’s gratitude to those who host events such as this one. I do not intend to deviate from that norm this evening. Accordingly, I wish to

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