Security Conference 2009 Munich: What Has Not Yet Been Said

[Oscar]

Security Conference 2009 Munich: What Has Not Yet Been Said

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by Joan Russow - PEJ News www.PEJ.org

Joan Russow - global compliance Research Project - While calling for various actions related to disarmament, and Security, the Security Summit has failed to advance measures that would translate their rhetoric into action

DISARMAMENT REQUIRES THE REALLOCATION OF THE GLOBAL MILITARY BUDGET AND A STRENGTHENED ROLE FOR THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY

It is reported that German Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier* opened the 45th Munich Security Conference with an impassioned call for a new era in global disarmament policy. Yet, he appears to have not, at a time when there is an economic crisis, called for a reallocation of the Global Military budget, which is estimated to be over 1.5 trillion dollars, or called for the dismantling of the over 730 US military bases on sovereign territory.

It was also indicated that one of the key security issues, to be discussed at the Summit, is the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. Steinmeier is reported to have declared that disarmament of existing nuclear arsenals was the prerequisite of nuclear non-proliferation, and that he envisioned a world without nuclear weapons. He then proceeded to single out Iran, without mentioning, for example, the destabilizing impact, in the Middle East, of the possession by Israel of nuclear weapons. He also failed to seriously call for the International Atomic Energy Agency to carry out inspections of all nuclear-armed states, including the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. Nor did he address the issue of the fact that the UN Security Council is controlled through the veto of the five permanent nuclear states, and that the Council, itself, violates the principle of sovereign equality, which is enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations. He also failed to advocate that for numerous reasons, if an unbiased decision about nuclear disarmament is to be made, the decision could be done only if the UN Security Council powers were transferred to UN General Assembly, which does reflect the sovereignty equality of states. It could be estimated that a legally binding vote on full disarmament and the dismantling of the global nuclear arsenal would probably succeed in achieving over 80% support in a vote in the UN General Assembly. For years, the UN General Assembly has passed resolutions calling for the reallocation of the military budget, and the application of the peace dividend, and for years, the UNGA has called for nuclear disarmament. Now the UNGA, along with the International Court of Justice must be recognized as the means by which the primary UN objective, the prevention of the scourge of war, can be realized.

INEXTRICABLE LINK BETWEEN CIVIL NUCLEAR ENERGY AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF NUCLEAR ARMS

Steinmeier also erred in affirming the right of all states to the peaceful use of nuclear energy. The Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty (NPT) does include that provision. The provision, however, was a concession that failed to acknowledge the inextricable link between civil nuclear energy and the development of nuclear arms. He also failed to condemn the role of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in promoting nuclear energy internationally, and to recognize that the IAEA’s role as a monitor of the possession of nuclear arms is compromised by its role in promoting nuclear energy.

PERPETUATION OF INSECURITY THROUGH CIRCULATING AND BERTHING OF NUCLEAR POWERED AND NUCLEAR ARMS-CAPABLE VESSELS, AND OF NUCLEAR ARMS-CAPABLE AIRCRAFT IN WAR GAMES

He failed to call for the prohibition of the production and circulation of these vessels, and of the participation of these vessels and of nuclear arms-capable aircraft in war games such as Exercise Trident Fury.

VIOLATION OF VARIOUS GENEVA PROTOCOLS RELATED TO WEAPONS SYSTEMS

He failed to also condemn the use of nuclear material, such as depleted uranium (DU), in weapons systems that have been used by the United States in Iraq in 1991, 1998, and from 2003 to present, in Kosovo in 1999, and in Afghanistan since 2001. Undoubtedly DU would fit into the category of prohibited weapons at least in one of the five Geneva Protocols related to weapons systems.

RESPONSIBILITY OF ACKNOWLEDGING AND ADDRESSING THE CONTRIBUTION OF MILITARISM TO OTHER ASPECTS OF SECURITY SUCH AS THE PRODUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS

While the Conference is described as a Security Conference, Steinmeier has failed to recognize that the continued global militarism is contributing to perhaps as much as 20% of the greenhouse gas emissions. He ignored the fact that the International Governmental Panel of Climate Change has failed to address the issue of the contribution of militarism to the global insecurity of climate change. He appeared to be unaware of the following recommendation coming from the UN DPI/NGO Climate Change Conference.

On September 7, 2007, at the United Nations, this statement was submitted to the Chair of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change DPI/NGO Climate Change Conference New York, September 7, 2007: Declaration by NGO military/nuclear matters breakfast networking meeting, and the NGO Peace Caucus at the DPI/NGO Climate Change Conference:

In 1992, at the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), most member states of the United Nations negotiated, subsequently signed and ratified the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, whose objective was to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We:

(i) demand that the DPI not be silent and refer to military and nuclear matters in all its activities;

(ii) call upon the member states of the United Nations to act on the commitment in Chapter 33 of Agenda 21, to reallocate military expenses;

(iii) call upon the UNGA to acknowledge the inextricable link between climate change and conflict over resources, such as oil, water etc.;

(iv) call upon member states of the United Nations to act on the commitments made in Beijing in 1995 at the Fourth World Conference on Women to ensure that all corporations, including transnationals, comply with international law, including international environmental law;

(v) call upon the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to investigate and estimate the full impact on greenhouse gas emissions by the military and demand that each state release information related to the greenhouse gas emissions from the production of all weapons systems, from military exercises, from war games, weapons testing, military aviation, environmental warfare, troop transfer, military operations, waste generation, reconstruction after acts of violent interventions etc.;

(vi) support the call for the disbanding of NATO, whose collective activities have contributed to not only the perpetuation of the scourge of war and the violation of international peremptory norms, but also the substantial release of greenhouse gas emissions.

If citizens are willing to do their part in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, member states of the United Nations must stop subsidizing the fossil fuel and military industries, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) must discontinue its promotion of nuclear energy - the most hazardous and expensive form of energy known - as the solution to climate change.

The climate and the web of life are in a state of crisis now. "We the peoples" must be bold and act now. We cannot remain silent.

THE CHANGE WE NEED IS NOT TO DO THINGS THE WAY THEY WERE DONE BEFORE (PRESIDENT OBAMA)

At the Security Summit, by ignoring bold moves that could seriously bring about disarmament and reduce other serious issues global to security, the participating governments, including the newly minted US presidency, are evading the ‘change we need’.

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* Frank-Walter Steinmeier (born 5 January 1956) is a German politician who has served as the Foreign Minister of Germany since 22 November 2005 in the Grand Coalition of Angela Merkel. On 21 November 2007, he replaced Franz Müntefering as Vice-Chancellor. In the first half of 2007, he was also President of the European Council. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), and on 7 September 2008, Steinmeier was designated as the candidate of the SPD for the office of Chancellor of Germany in the 2009 federal election.