Conventional Disarmament & Conversion

[Aimee Houghton <aimeeh@igc.org>]

From: Aimee Houghton <aimeeh@igc.org>
Subject: Conventional Disarmament & Conversion

***** WARNINIG: This is a long file *****

Announcement for the workshop on "Conventional Disarmament and 
Conversion", which is being held during the "Challenges of
Sustainable Development" of the International Network of Engineers and
Scientists for Global Responsibility" in Amsterdam, 22-25 August, 1996

International Congress of Engineers and Scientists:
"Challenges of Sustainable Development"
Amsterdam 22-25 August 1996

Workshop 4.4: "Conventional Disarmament and Conversion of Military 
Resources and Production"

Convenors:
Martin Grundmann, Germany
Henny van der Graaf, Netherlands
Esmat Ezz, Egypt

The aim of the workshop is to discuss the interconnection of subject 
matter can be divided into two main categories: conventional 
disarmament, and the conversion of military resources and production.

I. Conventional disarmament
One of the first topics to discuss is how to bring small arms back 
under the authority of states functioning through democratic rules. 
Another task for the workshop is to devise ways and means to halt the 
proliferation of conventional (small) arms through effective and 
practical preventive actions such as, on the political side, the 
integration of security and development in order to create better 
conditions for effective arms control and disarmament of conventional 
weaponry. 

A second aspect is the relationship between small arms and 
intra-state conflict. The problems related to excessive proliferation 
of small arms in various trouble spots in the world are daunting. 
Overcapacities and surplus equipment in industrialized countries are 
increasingly feeding arms markets in the developing world.
National programmes for arms collection are badly needed. In an 
increasing number of developing countries economic and social 
development has come to an end as a result of the unstable security 
situation. There is a recurring coincidence between overabundance of 
small arms and the outbreak of intra-state conflicts. Since the 
international community is becoming increasingly involved in 
intra-state conflicts and small arms are not covered by traditional 
arms control considerations and agreements, time is ripe to develop a 
package of practical arms control measures for small arms.

The second topic the workshop will address, under the heading of
disarmament, is the issue of demobilization and reintegration of 
former combattants once a civil war has ended. This issue is one of the 
most urgent problems in those countries where civil war is raging. A 
number of problems are apparent:
* the process of demobilization has to be organized;
* national institutions - as far as they still exist - have to be 
 supported by international organizations;
* control and transparency of the process has to be ensured;
* weapon collection programmes have to be organized;
* reintegration needs infrastructure that often has to be built up;
* vocational and technical training has to be organized;
* civil jobs are needed;
* medical care and psychological support is necessary;
# child-soldiers need special help.

Successful demobilization and reintegration is one of the main conditions
for peaceful development and the installation of a new national/regional
order of security and stability. If reintegration fails, there is the 
danger of the war starting again. The workshop will discuss these 
problems. 

The workshop will also deal with the problem of landmines, in 
particular anti-personnel mines, one of the cruellest weapons used in 
intra-state conflict, causing hundreds of casualties every day, in 
particular children, even long after the end of hostilities. The 
workshop will discuss possibilities for a global ban on landmines 
including measures for non-circumvention. Also the problem of mine 
clearance will be addressed.

II Conversion
In this context the workshop will discuss problems related to conversion
of military capabilities to peaceful uses. The underlying hypothesis is 
that conversion of arms production and of military facilities and 
personnel is dependent on the political will for conventional 
disarmament, and that at the same time the political will for 
disarmament is supported by conversion that is successful in economic 
and social terms.

The interdependence of conventional disarmament and conversion is on the
political agenda of the new Europe. It is seen as one of the most
significant aspects of peace-oriented development. Europe is one of the 
main producers of conventional weapons. Especially in Central and 
Eastern Europe conventional disarmament and conversion is a problem of 
economic and social development. The idea of disarmament and conversion 
has to compete with arms production and sales all over the world.
A related problem, at least in Central European countries, are newly 
defined concepts of national security where national arms industries 
play a major role.

The convenors invite participants to present papers and other 
contributions on the following broad topics:
* Arms control and regional security;
* Proliferation of small arms;
* Small arms and intra-state conflicts;
* Reintegration of combattants after intra-state conflicts;
* Prohibition of manufacture and sale of land mines and the problem of 
 mine clearance;
* Economic and social dimensions of conversion: political will;
* Conversion vs. arms production in the global picture;
* National arms industries and national security.
* Papers and other contributions that fit the general topic of the 
 workshop but do not fall directly under the above topics are also invited.

List of issues to be addressed in the workshop by invited contributors:

1. Small arms and intra-state conflict (Swadesh Rhana, UN Centre for
Disarmament Affairs, UN Secretariat, New York) 
2. The proliferation of light weapons and intra-state conflict: a case 
study (Brigadier-General (ret) Henny van der Graaf, member UN Advisory 
Board for Disarmament Affairs)
3. The landmine legacy (Brigadier Blagden)
4. Managing arms in peace processes (Sverre Lodgaard, director UNIDIR, 
Geneva)
5. Demobilization of soldiers after civil wars and their reintegration 
into civil life (Kees Kingma, Bonn International Centre for Conversion, 
Bonn)
6. Conventional disarmament, arms exports and conversion in Russia/CEE
(Peter Lock, European Association for Research on Transformation,
Hamburg/Moscow)
7. Conventional disarmament and conversion in the Baltic states (Igors
Tipans, Baltic International Centre for Human Education, Riga) 
8. Case study on conversion of a Russian arms producer (Rune Wigblad,
Swedish Engineers, Economists and Scientists for Conversion, Link=F6ping)
9. Possibilities of the civilian reuse of large military facilities 
(Roland Vogt, Department of Conversion, Ministry of Economy of the State of
Brandenburg; Network Demilitarized)

The papers presented in the workshop will be published in the congress
proceedings.

The congress program on the WorldWideWeb:
http://www.frt.fy.chalmers.se/amsterdam
____________________________

Dr. Martin Grundmann
Schleswig-Holstein Institute for Peace Research (SHIP)
University of Kiel
Kaiserstr. 2
D-24143 Kiel, Germany
tel +49-431-77572-856, fax -852 
e-mail grundmann@schiff.uni-kiel.de