The Future Role of the United Nations in Disarmament: Learning from the Iraq Experience

Abstract

In UNSC Resolution 687,¹ the United Nations called on Iraq, in exchange for a ceasefire, to reaffirm the Geneva Protocols of 1925 and to ratify the 1972 biological weapons convention. The text then proceeds with a list of unconditional requirements which can be summarized as follows. Within 15 days of the adoption of Resolution 687, Iraq must declare the locations, types and amounts of chemical weapons, biological weapons, ballistic missiles with ranges greater than 150 km, nuclear weapons and all related supporting materials and facilities. Iraq must yield possession of these weapons to a UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) for their destruction and submit to on-site inspection of related facilities. Additionally, Iraq must foreswear future acquisition, construction, development or use of these weapons and allow the United Nations to conduct ongoing monitoring in the future of Iraq’s compliance with these requirements.