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Military

USIS Washington 
File

01 September 1999

Text: Newsom on Small Arms Use and Proliferation

(From USIA electronic journal "U.S. Foreign Policy Agenda") (1340)
(Small arms proliferation is a symptom of increased intrastate
conflicts and is "a problem that is not amenable to simple or quick
solution and will be with us for the long term," says Eric David
Newsom, Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs.
"The United States and the international community must therefore
address the root causes of intrastate conflict and, at the same time,
try to stem the supply of these weapons and contain the devastation
that they cause." The following article by Newsom is included in the
September issue of the USIA electronic journal "U.S. Foreign Policy
Agenda," which addresses the topic, "Responding to the Challenge of
Proliferation.")
Small Arms Use and Proliferation: Strategies for a Global Dilemma
By Eric David Newsom
Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs
While most arms control efforts focus on weapons of mass destruction
(WMD) and heavy conventional weapons, small arms and light weapons
designed for military use are responsible for most of the killing and
injuries, especially of civilians, in the increasing number of
intrastate conflicts that have occurred since the end of the Cold War.
These weapons include assault rifles, light and heavy machine guns,
rocket-propelled grenades, and individually portable mortars and
missiles.
Small arms and light weapons claim hundreds of thousands of lives and
displace millions every year, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. Small arms
were the only weapons used in 46 of the 49 regional conflicts that
have occurred since 1990. Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo,
Sierra Leone, and the Great Lakes region in Africa provide dismaying
evidence of the ease with which these weapons can be obtained in large
quantities, and the horrific consequences that can ensue. Although
Africa is the hardest hit by the problem, in Latin America, large
parts of Asia, and the Balkans small arms have exacerbated and
prolonged conflicts, undermined peace agreements and complicated
peace-building efforts, as well as contributed to regional
instability, facilitated crime, and ultimately hindered economic and
political development.
Nobody knows how many of these weapons currently circulate worldwide.
Estimates range up to 500 million. Small arms are difficult to count,
partly because they are easy to conceal and transport, but also
because they endure so long. Many of the arms found in Africa, for
example, date from World Wars I and II. Small arms also are cheap. In
some parts of Africa, an AK-47 can be purchased for as little as six
dollars, or traded for a chicken or goat. Because these weapons are
easy to use, manufacture, transport, conceal, and maintain, just
understanding the scope of the problem, let alone finding solutions,
poses a great challenge.
Moreover, the sources of small arms are diverse. Many countries lack
adequate export control systems and end-use restraints; even those
with respectable systems of control must confront the determined
efforts of corrupt officials and others who are willing to divert
legally sold weapons to illegal ends. Smugglers and rogue suppliers
also continue to have access to old stocks and supplies left over from
civil and international wars. Excess production capacity of small arms
and ammunition in the developed world and indigenous production in
zones of conflict, particularly in Africa, also contribute to
proliferation.
Governments all over the world are becoming increasingly aware of the
scale of the small-arms problem and of the urgent need to develop
policies to combat it. The United States has become a leader on the
issue. Secretary of State Albright has delivered three speeches on
small arms -- in September and November of 1998, and most recently on
July 13 to the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People). U.S. initiatives include expanding the nation's own
"best practices," such as adopting model regulations on legal trade
drafted by the Organization of American States (OAS), and working
through other fora to encourage states to criminalize UN embargo
violations, institute strict end-use and arms-brokering controls,
promote greater transparency by sharing information on transfers and
violations, and curb re-transfers of weapons.
At the global level, various initiatives are under way. The subject of
small arms has figured prominently on the agenda of the UN General
Assembly for a number of years. This has led to, among other
developments, the establishment of the Group of Governmental Experts
on Small Arms. Its report to the 54th General Assembly will serve as
input for an international conference on the "Illicit Trade of Arms in
All Its Aspects," to be convened no later than 2001. This conference
will be used to galvanize international attention, to draw up a plan
for global action to address the problem, and to carry out other
objectives.
The focus of U.S. policy is to achieve agreement by next year on a
Protocol on Illicit Firearms and Ammunition Trafficking to the UN
Transnational Organized Crime Convention. This protocol is modeled on
the InterAmerican Convention Against the Illicit Trafficking in
Firearms, Ammunition, and Other Related Materials initiated by the
OAS. Seven OAS member states have ratified the convention (Mexico,
Belize, Bahamas, Bolivia, El Salvador, Peru, and Ecuador), and all but
four OAS members have signed it. In June 1998 the President
transmitted the convention to the U.S. Senate for its advice and
consent.
In addition to the OAS, many other regional and international
organizations have raised the issue in some way. Valuable initiatives
at the regional level include the moratorium by the Economic Community
of West African States (ECOWAS) on the importation, exportation, and
manufacture of small arms and light weapons, and efforts by the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), NATO's
Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC), the ASEAN (Association of
Southeast Asian Nations) Regional Forum (ARF), and the Southern
African Development Community (SADC). These efforts include building
enforcement and legal capacities, providing training on export control
and customs, discouraging irresponsible exports, and enhancing
stockpile security.
The European Union has developed a Code of Conduct on arms transfers,
a Program for Preventing and Combating Illicit Trafficking in
Conventional Arms, and a Joint Action on Small Arms. The Group of
Eight and the Wassenaar Arrangement also are addressing aspects of the
issue. In particular, the United States is working within the context
of Wassenaar to complete an agreement by the year 2000 to control
shoulder-fired missiles.
The United States also is keenly interested in promoting the
destruction of excess stocks of weapons, especially in areas of
conflict and post-conflict. In many countries, stocks are often stolen
for use by indigenous criminal gangs, paramilitaries, or insurgents,
or sold off for use in zones of conflict. Measures to secure active
stocks and destroy excess weapons are cheap, often costing pennies a
weapon for large stocks, and would result in great dividends by
decreasing crime and insecurity, reducing the threat to development,
and permitting the reconstruction of societies attempting to recover
from civil war and ethnic conflict. Given the huge quantities of these
weapons, until these stocks are reduced, our attempts to control
international transfers will produce little benefit in those areas
where civilians are suffering the most from the adverse impact of the
weapons.
In a larger sense, small arms proliferation is one of many symptoms of
increased intrastate conflicts since the end of the Cold War. The
proliferation and use of these weapons in such conflicts is a problem
that is not amenable to simple or quick solution, and it will be with
us for the long term. The United States and the international
community must therefore address the root causes of intrastate
conflict and, at the same time, try to stem the supply of these
weapons and contain the devastation that they cause. This will require
us to begin to integrate small arms concerns into the fabric of our
diplomatic relations, as we now do with democracy and human rights.
Without sustained, creative attention to both aspects of the problem
of intrastate conflict, many of the other problems that we strive to
mitigate will become worse.




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