Disarmament, Development, and Security

Al Jazeera - Devin Raine

March 8, 2025, 5:21 pm

The United Nations General Assembly met today to discuss the topic of disarmament and development. Many issues were raised, the central ones being, nuclear disarmament, state sovereignty, and employment. This committee is convened at a time when conflicts run rampant all across the globe, and worries about national security are rapidly increasing with every day. 

The United States began the debate with a policy of deterrence, stating the desire to keep their nuclear weapons but have other countries give up theirs. Additionally, the US worried about the economic loss of total disarmament, asking, “who’s going to hire someone who makes guns for a living?” This was a position highly scrutinised by India, Thailand and Greece, who made clear their stance that the economy must not be treated as more important than a human life. 

This theme of the importance of human life continued for India, Greece, and their allies, who also emphasised the importance of development. They made the case that reducing funding for arms will allow more money to be spent on communities. This in turn would allow countries to develop and thus impede the growth of groups that threaten state security.  

Much of the discussions on arms focused on nuclear weapons, something the delegation from Saudi Arabia pointed out. They stressed that nuclear bombs had not been used since 1945, but that various other weapons (such as rockets and guns) had been, even within their own borders. Japan also harkened back to the 1945 bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, emphasizing that such tragedies must never happen again. 

Two main blocs emerged over the course of the day, one led by India, Greece, and China, and the other one led by the United States. India and Greece were The United Choice with China (TUCC), while the US led one was named the Russo-American Resolution. TUCC had four major points that they wished to see passed in a resolution. They called for a reduction on nuclear power, where states may have weapons but are not permitted to use them. Additionally important were treaties, as many countries needed assurances they would not be targeted after giving up their weapons. TUCC also sought tighter regulations on the gun trade, so that non-state groups could not access them. Grounding the bloc’s resolutions was the strong belief that the money gained from disarmament must go towards developing countries, with larger more powerful nations helping smaller ones. 

A great tension existed between TUCC and the United States bloc, which severely harmed negotiations and the passing of resolutions. The language between the two was especially alarming, with the United States calling China a “terrorist.” This was only escalated by claims by the United States that China sought to annex them. This was vehemently denied. Nonetheless, the United States remained distrustful of China, and thus the entire TUCC bloc, severely harming negotiation procedure, and unity across divided states. 

Additionally, negotiations were halted by disagreements in relation to retention of nuclear weapons. The Russo-American Resolution bloc wanted states to completely give up their nuclear weapons, but TUCC wished to retain hold of them with stricter regulations. 

Despite these issues, TUCC was able to gain the majority of votes, passing their position paper. Nonetheless, tension still remains, and it is unclear if the two blocs will be able to come to an agreement on disarmament.