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Small arms and light weapons (SALW) fuel conflict and enable
terrorism, threaten human rights and impede development and
the provision of humanitarian aid. The Small Arms Survey (2005)
estimates direct conflict deaths in 2003 ranged from 80,000
to 108,000 people and small arms and light weapons were responsible
for between 60-80% of those direct conflict deaths. Despite
the overwhelming impact of SALW, international organizations
have found it difficult to agree on ways to control these
weapons.
The Web pages on this section of BASIC's site are mostly
archival, but they provide a sampling of international and
regional organization involvement in SALW control after the
Cold War. BASIC is narrowing much of its focus on SALW to
Man-Portable Air-Defense Systems (MANPADS), including the
examination of the terrorist threat from these weapons as
well as the persistence of states in manufacturing and retaining
these weapons.
Publications
EU | NATO | OAS | OSCE | UN
BASIC Publications and Materials
Brief Submission to the
Biennial Meeting of States on Small Arms and Light Weapons,
UN Conference in New York, 7-11 July 2003.
Licensed Production
Overseas: Time for a New Control Initiative? Saferworld
and BASIC Discussion Paper from roundtable meeting on EU and
US Cooperation on arms export controls in a post 9/11 world,
January 2003. (Posted Spring 2003.)
Man Portable
Air Defense Systems (MANPADS) Saferworld and BASIC
Discussion Paper from roundtable meeting on EU and US Cooperation
on arms export controls in a post 9/11 world, January 2003.
(Posted Spring 2003.)
Draft Secondary Legislation
Consultation, (PDF), BASIC's response to the DTI's
Consultation Document on the secondary legislation for the
Export Control Act 2002. 30 April 2003
Deadly Rounds: Ammunition and Armed Conflict,
Research Report 98.4, May 1998. This report discusses the
link between ammunition and armed conflict, and explores ammunition
production, trade routes, and the negative effects of ammunition
supply on stability and security. Strategies for controlling
ammunition address the legal and illicit trade of ammunition,
and recommendations for future ammunition studies are offered.
Executive Summary available in
HTML format.
Eastern
Europe's Arsenal on the Loose: Managing Light Weapons Flows
to Conflict Zones BASIC Paper # 26, May 1998.
The Struggle
Continues: Light Weapons Destruction in Mozambique BASIC
Paper # 25, April 1998
Africa:
The Challenge of Light Weapons Destruction During Peacekeeping
Operation BASIC Paper # 23, December 1997.
Bridging the Gap: Light and Major Conventional
Weapons in Recent Conflicts 18 March 1997. This paper,
prepared by Natalie Goldring (with research assistance from
Susannah Dyer, Joel Johnston, and Alexander Chloros) for the
Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association, examines
the roles of light and major conventional weapons in recent
conflicts and stresses the importance of addressing the entire
range used in such conflicts when formulating policy proposals.
Controlling Global Light Weapons Transfers:
Working Toward Policy Options 20 April 1996, This
paper, prepared by Natalie Goldring and Susannah Dyer for
the Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association,
outlines possible policy options for controlling light weapons
transfers, and provides a preliminary analysis of which policies
might best suit the local, regional and global dynamics at
play in various scenarios where light weapons play a major
role.
Light Weapons and International
Security, New Delhi: British American Security Information
Council and Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, October
1995. This book contains the papers and research notes from
the October 1995 Project on Light Weapons workshop in New
Delhi, India. The conference was co-sponsored by BASIC and
the American and Indian affiliates of the Pugwash Conferences
on Science and World Affairs.
Removing Surplus Small Arms and Light Weapons from Russian Society:
Lessons from Weapons Collection and Destruction Programmes
in Other Countries and Regions Presentation by Ian
Davis on Small Arms, 6-7 December 2001, Moscow.
Arms Brokering
Seeking tighter regulation of arms brokering and shipping
agents in the United States, the United Kingdom, the European
Union, and globally.
Illicit Small Arms
Trafficking Information on trafficking initiatives
within the European Union, the Organization of American States,
the Organization for Security in Europe, and the United Nations.
EU
The Arms Fixers: Controlling the Brokers and
Shipping Agents, Research Report 99.3, November 1999. This
report uncovers new details of arms brokering deals, implicating
major actors taking advantage of current loopholes in UK and
EU law. The authors highlight a number of key concerns that
urgently need to be addressed, including weak legislation,
poor enforcement mechanisms and lax financial controls/company
regulation. Finally, the report makes substantive proposals
for regulating the activities of arms brokering and shipping
agent. Preface and Introduction available;
entire report available
on NISAT's website.
Controlling
the gun-runners: Proposals for EU action to regulate arms
brokering and shipping agents BASIC/Saferworld Briefing
Paper, February 1999. This report, produced in conjunction
with the Norwegian Initiative on Small Arms Transfers (NISAT)
and Saferworld, highlights the lack of oversight and regulation
of arms brokering and shipping arranged by EU residents. Recommendations
for closing the systemic loopholes include establishing EU-wide
agreement on which activities to control, monitoring agents
and their activities, and striving to internationalize any
EU control system.
Combating Illicit Light Weapons Trafficking:
Developments and Opportunities, Research Report 98.1,
January 1998.
This paper provides an overview of the illicit light weapons
trade and evaluates several multilateral control initiatives
already underway, most notably in the EU and OAS. The authors
make a series of policy recommendations that stress the need
for cooperative action, beginning with the summit of the G8
in May 1998. They go on to point out the danger of emphasizing
illicit transfers to divert attention from the spread of light
weapons through licit and "gray" market channels. Executive Summary available
in HTML format. Entire report available only in PDF
format. 
NATO
NATO and Small Arms: From Words to Deeds,
Research Report 2000.4, 6 October 2000. NATO currently is
engaged in a process of developing new policies for arms control
and disarmament, under a mandate given by the heads of state
and government of the 19 member nations during the Alliance's
April 1999 summit. This paper is aimed at fleshing out how
NATO as a body, the individual allies and NATO's partner nations
in Central and Eastern Europe can contribute to the growing
international effort to stem the proliferation of small arms
and light weapons.
OAS
Combating Illicit Light Weapons Trafficking:
Developments and Opportunities, Research Report 98.1,
January 1998.
This paper provides an overview of the illicit light weapons
trade and evaluates several multilateral control initiatives
already underway, most notably in the EU and OAS. The authors
make a series of policy recommendations that stress the need
for cooperative action, beginning with the summit of the G8
in May 1998. They go on to point out the danger of emphasizing
illicit transfers to divert attention from the spread of light
weapons through licit and "gray" market channels. Executive Summary available
in HTML format. Entire report available only in PDF
format.
Implementing
and Deepening the OAS Agenda on Small Arms and Light Weapons
Presentation by Ian Davis at the Inter-American Convention
Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms,
Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials, Consultative
Committee, Third Regular Meeting, Washington, DC, 2 May 2002.
Breaking
the Cycle of Violence: Light Weapons Destruction in Central
America BASIC Paper # 24, December 1997.
OSCE
Small Arms and Light Weapons: An Issue for the
OSCE?
A report of a workshop organized by the governments of Canada,
Norway, the Netherlands and Switzerland in association with
BASIC 9-10 November 1998 (available in print only).
UN
One
Size Fits All?: Prospects for a Global Convention on Illicit
Trafficking by 2000, Research Report 99.2, April 1999.
The campaign to control small arms and light weapons has gone
global. The current discussions on the UN Firearms Protocol,
while groundbreaking, also run the risk of producing a document
that falls short of human rights and humanitarian law standards.
Political pressure is propelling the negotiations towards
universalisation of the Inter-American Convention on Illicit
Weapons Trafficking without adequately strengthening it for
the global context.
UN Conference on
the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its
Aspects Resources for the United Nations' conference
scheduled for 9-20 July 2001.
Submission to
the UN on Illicit Trafficking, July 1999 (executive summary).
Annex: Comparison of Measures to
Combat Illicit Trafficking.
ECOSOC Resolution
on Criminal Justice Reform and Strengthening of Legal Institutions:
Measures to Regulate Firearms, April 1998
Draft United Nations International Study
on Firearm Regulation, Commission on Crime Prevention and
Criminal Justice, 25 April 1997
Additional Information
"Small Arms and
Light Weapons, Comprehensive Introduction to the Issues: A
background document," by the World Council of Churches,
2000
"Arms availability and the situation of civilians in armed
conflict," by the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC), 1 June 1999
"Small Arms Control:
An International Challenge," by Michael Mates. The North
Atlantic Assembly Report AT-131-e, NATO Parliamentary Assembly,
Committee Reports - Sub-committee on the Proliferation of
Military Technology, 6 April 2000.
"General and Complete Disarmament:
Assistance to States for curbing the illicit traffic in small
arms and collecting them," Report of the Secretary-General.
UNGA Document A/53/207, 31 July 1998.
"Report of the Panel
of Governmental Experts on Small Arms," UNGA Document
A/52/298, 27 August 1997
"UN General Assembly Resolution
52/38 General and Complete Disarmament, Section J (1997):
Small Arms," 9 December 1997
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