PPSB MUN 2024
Study Guide
Director: Rohan Rajesh
Asst. Director: Shalaka Avhad
1|Page
Table of Contents
Sr. Topic Page
No. No.
1. Letter from the Chair 3
2. About DISEC 4
3. Agenda 5
4. Countries’ Stance 17
5. Bibliography
2|Page
Letter from the Chair
Welcome, Delegates!
We would like to extend our warm welcome to all
delegates who have chosen to take part in the
committee. Buckle up for some exciting action that is
going to take place in the DISEC.
More formally, the following is the scope of the
committee is as follows:
The Disarmament and International Security Committee
(DISEC), formally known as the First Committee of the
United Nations General Assembly, has several key
functions related to disarmament and international
security. DISEC, a key UN General Assembly body,
promotes international peace and security by overseeing
disarmament and arms control, addressing global
threats like terrorism and cyber-attacks, and advocating
for the peaceful use of outer space. It fosters
confidence-building among states, develops and
reviews disarmament treaties, acts on UN reports, and
collaborates with other organizations to address conflict
root causes and promote peace.
This year we have an enthralling agenda:
Agenda: Debating stricter regulations on the global
arms trade to prevent arms proliferation and conflicts
fuelled by weapon transfers.
3|Page
The country that is assigned to you is significant as you
cannot oppose your own policies.
Arguments must be enriched with facts and be
constructive, as in actually add to the debate.
Feel free to ask any queries.
Best of luck, Delegates!
Faithfully,
The Chair
4|Page
About DISEC
Disarmament and International Security Committee or
better know as DISEC, also known as the First
Committee, was the first committee established by the
United Nations General Assembly.
In 1945, DISEC was established as one of the six main
committees of the United Nations General Assembly
following the founding of the UN. Its creation reflected
the urgency of addressing disarmament and
international security issues in the aftermath of World
War II. DISEC has been pivotal in fostering dialogue,
developing international treaties, and promoting
measures to ensure global peace and security in a
constantly changing geopolitical landscape.
DISEC addresses disarmament, global challenges, and
threats to peace affecting the international community.
It seeks solutions to issues within the international
security regime, considering all disarmament and
security matters within the UN Charter’s scope. DISEC
also deals with principles of cooperation for
maintaining international peace and security,
disarmament, and regulation of armaments, while
promoting cooperative measures to strengthen stability
through reduced armament levels.
The First Committee “works in close cooperation with
the United Nations Disarmament Commission and the
5|Page
Geneva-based Conference on Disarmament. It is the
only Main Committee of the General Assembly entitled
to verbatim records coverage.”3 DISEC functions in a
three-part structure. First, the committee begins with
general debate about the topics under consideration.
Second, the committee proceeds to thematic
discussions. Lastly, the committee moves to action on
draft resolutions.
6|Page
Agenda
Debating stricter regulations on the global
arms trade to prevent arms proliferation and
conflicts fuelled by weapon transfers.
Let’s break this agenda down into stages:
Global Arms Trade
Arms Proliferation
Treaties
Global Arms Trade
For several decades, the trade in weapons has been
among the most lucrative businesses in the world with
predictable increases year after year. The ready
availability of weapons and ammunition leads to human
suffering, political repression, crime and terror among
civilian populations. Irresponsible arms transfers can
destabilize an entire region, enable violations of arms
embargoes and contribute to human rights abuses.
Investment is discouraged, and development disrupted
in countries experiencing conflict and high levels of
violence.
Virtually all areas of world trade, from banana to
petroleum, timber to minerals, are covered by
regulations that bind countries into agreed conduct.
Before the adoption of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) in
7|Page
April 2013 by the General Assembly of the United
Nations, there was no global set of rules governing the
trade in conventional weapons. The ATT sets robust
international standards to help guide governments in
deciding whether or not to authorize arms transfers. It
provides for cooperation and assistance to help
countries develop adequate regulatory systems and safe
weapons stockpiles. The adoption of the Arms Trade
Treaty marked a turning point in the international
community’s efforts to regulate the global trade in
conventional arms and to promote peace and security.
8|Page
Arms Proliferation
The definition of weapons proliferation is the spread of
both weapons and the components required to
manufacture them. The spreading of arms and military
technology which happens rapidly is the menace to the
world’s security and stability. It means that this
phenomenon covers both conventional arms including
small arms, light weapons and big guns as well as
weapons of mass destruction (WMD) like nuclear,
chemical and biological devices. The mindset in
proliferation of arms includes escalation of regional
conflicts, upsurge in non-state actors such as terrorist
groups and de-stability of weak governments. As a rule,
it causes an arms race, turning into a source of tension
among states with resources being diverted from vital
social-economic priorities for development needs.
However, political complexities associated with
international treaties like Non-Proliferation Treaty
(NPT) as well arms control agreements make these
efforts very difficult together with enforcement
problems and the undercover nature related to illegal
trade in firearms. Consequently, there had to be global
cooperation on this issue using strong mechanisms to
observe and prevent diffusion of deadly weapons.
9|Page
Treaties
The NPT
The Nuclear Non – Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is a
landmark international treaty whose objective is to
prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons
technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses
of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving
nuclear disarmament and general and complete
disarmament. The Treaty represents the only binding
commitment in a multilateral treaty to the goal of
disarmament by the nuclear-weapon States. Opened for
signature in 1968, the Treaty entered into force in 1970.
On 11 May 1995, the Treaty was extended indefinitely.
A total of 191 States have joined the Treaty, including
the five nuclear-weapon States. More countries have
ratified the NPT than any other arms limitation and
disarmament agreement, a testament to the Treaty’s
significance.
On August 6th and 9th,1945, the twin Japanese cities of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed by the United
States with a powerful and terrible weapon – The Atom
Bomb. The act brought about the end of World War 2,
but with a terrible price. Total casualties amounted
between 129,000 to 226,000 between the two cities,
with countless other injured and suffering from
radiation sickness.
10 | P a g e
The after-effects of the bombings were a serious cause
of concern among world powers, along with potential
misuse of the weapon. This concern led to calls for a
safeguard to ensure a Nuclear Arms Control was in
place. Thus, it was in 1961, a U.N resolution called for
a treaty to prevent an arms race for nuclear weapons.
This treaty would go on to become the Non-
Proliferation Treaty.
During a speech in 1963, President John F. Kennedy
warned of a world with 25 nuclear weapons states or
more. Today, only nine are believed to possess nuclear
weapons. The NPT has helped prevent the spread of
nuclear weapons, while providing the basis for non-
proliferation cooperation between nuclear and non-
nuclear states. In the interest of broadening access to
nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, states that are
party to the NPT agree to the “fullest possible
exchange” of materials, equipment, and expertise.
The Non-Proliferation Treaty prohibits the nations who
don’t have nuclear weapons from acquiring them, at the
same time prohibiting the nuclear states from helping
others in acquiring the weapons. At the same time
working towards total disarmament. The International
Atomic Energy Agency, which is the successor of the
United Nations Atomic Energy Commission verifies the
compliance with the treaty. The compliance, in turn, is
enforced by the United Nations Security Council.
11 | P a g e
This is what the NPT does:
Nuclear Weapons States and Non-Nuclear Weapons
States: The NPT distinguishes between nuclear-
weapons states (NWS) and non-nuclear-weapons states
(NNWS). Nuclear Weapons States are the five states
that possessed nuclear weapons when the treaty was
signed in 1968: the United States, the Soviet Union, the
United Kingdom, France, and China. The Russian
Federation replaced the Soviet Union as a NWS after
the disintegration of the Soviet Union. independent
former Soviet states have joined the NPT as NNWS.
With the exception of the five states recognized as
NWS in the treaty, states may only join the NPT as
NNWS.
Non-Proliferation: The NPT prohibits NNWS from
developing or acquiring nuclear weapons, and prohibits
NWS from transferring nuclear weapons or control of
such weapons to non-nuclear states. NWS are also
prohibited from assisting, encouraging, or inducing
NNWS to attain nuclear weapons.
Peaceful Use: The NPT allows for the exchange of
nuclear material, technology, and expertise to NNWS
for use in civilian nuclear programs, as long as they do
not develop nuclear weapons. The International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) monitors non-nuclear weapons
states’ civil nuclear programs to ensure that they are not
developing nuclear weapons.
12 | P a g e
Disarmament: Parties to the treaty are required to
pursue the reduction of nuclear arsenals in good faith
and, though a timeline is not included, the eventual
elimination of nuclear weapons. Because the United
States and Russia possess approximately 91% of the
world’s nuclear weapons, they share much of the
responsibility for disarmament.
There are a total of nine nations that possess nuclear
weapons.
Five of the nations namely – The United States of
America, The United Kingdom, France, Russia and
China have signed the treaty.
The remaining four nations namely – India, Pakistan,
Israel and North Korea have not signed the treaty and
thus not a party to the treaty.
The ATT
The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is a multilateral treaty
that regulates the international trade in conventional
arms. It was adopted by the United Nations General
Assembly on April 2, 2013, and entered into force on
December 24, 2014.
The Treaty contributes to:
Reducing armed conflict and violence, which
impact millions of civilians every year;
13 | P a g e
Helping create a more conducive environment for
the UN to carry out its mandates in peacekeeping,
peace-making and post-conflict peacebuilding and
in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development and of the New Agenda
for Peace;
Fostering a safer environment for humanitarian
actors operating in volatile areas across the globe
such as those delivering food aid, protecting
refugees, working on gender equality and
empowering women.
Essential elements of the ATT:
Scope: All important weapons systems: battle tanks,
armed personnel carriers, artillery, fighter jets, attack
helicopters, warships, missiles, and small arms and light
weapons. Ammunition as well as parts and components
are covered.
Prohibitions on Transfers: Any transfer that could
violate Security Council arms embargoes or be used to
commit acts of genocide, crimes against humanity or
war crimes.
Criteria for Assessment of Exports: States will deny
an export if there is an “overriding risk” that weapons
may be used to negatively impact peace and security,
undermine international humanitarian/human rights
14 | P a g e
law, facilitate terrorism, organized crime, and gender-
based violence.
Commitment to Regulate: Countries commit to
develop an export and import control system.
Furthermore, they are also encouraged to regulate
transit of weapons through their territories and arms
brokers.
Commitment to Report: Transparency is paramount.
States commit to report on their present regulatory
system, and their actual imports and exports of
weapons.
International Cooperation/Assistance: The ATT
includes provisions on institutional capacity-building
and establishes a voluntary trust fund to help States
implement the treaty.
Prevention of diversion: A Diversion Information
Exchange Forum (DIEF) was established by the Sixth
Conference of the States Parties in 2020. Thanks to the
DIEF, States Parties and signatory States can have
informal voluntary exchanges concerning concrete
cases of detected or suspected diversion. Furthermore,
they can share concrete, operational diversion-related
information, which can help States to improve their
national legislations and procedures.
Some other treaties include:
15 | P a g e
Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests In The
Atmosphere, In Outer Space And Under Water,
also known as the Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT)
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT)
16 | P a g e
Stances of Countries
The United States of America
The USA’s arms exports grew by 17 percent between
2014–18 and 2019–23 and its share of total
global arms exports rose from 34 per cent to 42 per
cent. The USA delivered major arms to 107 states
in 2019–23, which was more than the next two biggest
exporters combined. The volume of arms
exported by the USA in 2019–23 was 282 per cent
higher than that of France, the second biggest arms
exporter globally.
In 2023, the United States transferred $80.9 billion of
weapons under the foreign military sales regime and
another $157.5 billion worth of weapons through direct
commercial sales. Many of these transfers aimed to
strengthen the defence capabilities of democratic
partners, such as Australia and Japan, or to support
Ukraine in its defence against Russian aggression—
transfers that carry strict, congressionally mandated
reporting requirements. Yet the United States also
transferred billions of dollars of weapons to countries
with clear, documented, and ongoing evidence of
human rights abuse, authoritarian behaviour,
transnational repression, or violations of international
law, including Israel, Egypt, and India.
17 | P a g e
According to the March 2023 New START declaration,
the United States deploys 1,419 strategic nuclear
warheads on 662 strategic delivery systems
(intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched
ballistic missiles, and heavy bombers).
The United States also has an estimated 100 B-61
nuclear gravity bombs that are forward-deployed at six
NATO bases in five European countries: Aviano and
Ghedi in Italy; Büchel in Germany; Incirlik in Turkey;
Kleine Brogel in Belgium; and Volkel in the
Netherlands. On October 5, 2021, the U.S. State
Department issued a declassification announcement
indicating that the total number of U.S. “active” and
“inactive” warheads is 3,750 as of September 2020. The
stockpile figures do not include retired warheads and
those awaiting dismantlement. FAS estimates the
current military stockpile stands at 3708 warheads, with
1,336 retired warheads awaiting dismantlement, for a
total of 5,044 warheads as of May 2024.
18 | P a g e
