John Borrie

Followers

Following

Co-authors

Public Views

InterestsView All (6)

Uploads

Papers by John Borrie

Improving UN planning for a humanitarian response to a nuclear detonation

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 2014

ABSTRACT The United Nations has consistently supported the elimination of nuclear weapons, freque... more ABSTRACT The United Nations has consistently supported the elimination of nuclear weapons, frequently referring to the effects of the 1945 bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. Despite awareness of the severe effects of the use of nuclear weapons on targeted or adjacent populations, at a practical level the UN system has not specifically planned how it would respond to assist the victims of nuclear weapons. Moreover, the current humanitarian system is largely unprepared for the special challenges of such an event. This is significant for three reasons: First, the probability of the explosion of a nuclear weapon in populated areas may be low, but such an event is not impossible; there are many ways nuclear weapons might be detonated, either deliberately or inadvertently, with severe humanitarian consequences. Second, in assisting the victims, the UN-coordinated humanitarian system could put its own personnel at risk. Third, although any humanitarian response would at least in part be only palliative, and prevention remains the only adequate response, organizations within the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement have already begun considering these issues and the UN needs to be ready to work with them. There are many ways in which the humanitarian system could better prepare for the challenges that even a single nuclear explosion would pose, and such preparation is consistent with the UN’s mission and the secretary-general’s recent call for all feasible steps to be taken to avoid systemic humanitarian failures.

The Geneva Forum's role in international efforts to curb the illicit small arms trade

he Geneva Forum is a joint initiative of the Quaker United Nations Office in Geneva (QUNO), UNIDI... more he Geneva Forum is a joint initiative of the Quaker United Nations Office in Geneva (QUNO), UNIDIR, and the Programme for Strategic and International Security Studies (PSIS) of the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva. This paper briefly tells the story of the Geneva Forum's work on small arms and light weapons issues (referred to here as small arms, or SALW)1 and evaluates its impact on the achievement and subsequent implementation and monitoring of the 2001 Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects.2 To do so, it is first necessary to explain the Geneva Forum's origins, and the political context into which its work on small arms emerged.

Humanitarian reframing of nuclear weapons and the logic of a ban

International Affairs, 2014

ABSTRACT The achievement of past international treaties prohibiting anti-personnel mines and clus... more ABSTRACT The achievement of past international treaties prohibiting anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions showed that unpropitious political situations for dealing with the effects of problematic weapons could be transformed into concrete, legally binding actions through humanitarian-inspired initiatives. Although there is now renewed concern about the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, some policy makers dispute the relevance of these past processes. This article examines how and why cluster munitions became widely reframed as unacceptable weapons, and the nature and significance of functional similarities with contemporary efforts of civil society activists to instigate humanitarian reframing of nuclear weapons and promote the logic of a ban treaty in view of its norm-setting value among states. In the case of cluster munitions, the weapon in question was signified as unacceptable in moral and humanitarian law terms because of its pattern of harm to civilians with reference to demonstrable evidence of the consequences of use. Ideational reframing was instigated by civil society actors, and introduced doubts into the minds of some policy-makers about weapons they had previously considered as unproblematic. This is relevant to the current discourse on managing and eliminating nuclear weapons in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, in which there is dissonance between the rhetoric of those states claiming to be responsible humanitarian powers and their continued dependence on nuclear weapons despite questions about the utility or acceptability of these arms.

The ‘Long Year’: Emerging International Efforts to Address the Humanitarian Impacts of Cluster Munitions, 2006-2007

Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law, 2007

Cluster munitions are a class of weapon originating from the Second World War, and concerns about... more Cluster munitions are a class of weapon originating from the Second World War, and concerns about the hazards they pose to civilians, both at time of use and post-conflict, have been raised since the 1960s. However, attempts to specifically address the humanitarian impacts of cluster munitions through international legal means gained little traction until a turning-point period from late 2006 to the end of 2007. Remarkably, by the end of this period not one – but two – multilateral negotiating processes were underway to develop international legally binding arrangements on cluster munitions.

GENDER, DEVELOPMENT AND NUCLEAR WEAPONS

by John Borrie, Kjølv Egeland, and Torbjørn Graff Hugo

This study explores the relationship between nuclear weapons and gender—how and why the two are c... more This study explores the relationship between nuclear weapons and gender—how and why the two are connected, both to each other, and to shared global agendas such as sustainable development. The study examines the impacts of nuclear weapons and how these affect women and men differently, and how applying a gender lens to the nuclear weapons discourse offers new insights. The study also analyses the gender imbalance in nuclear disarmament forums, and why this matters. Findings from the study were presented at an event sponsored by Ireland and other states on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly First Committee on 19 October 2016 in New York.

format_quoteLack of gender perspectives and women's participation may hinder nuclear disarmament progress and violate global goals, leading to ongoing nuclear threats.format_quote

Download

A Physics of Diplomacy? The Dynamics of Complex Social Phenomena and Their Implications for Multilateral Negotiations

It sounded an excellent plan, no doubt, and very neatly and simply arranged. The only difficulty ... more

Download

A Physics of Diplomacy? The Dynamics of Complex Social Phenomena and Their Implications for Multilateral Negotiations

SUMMARY There are big differences between what is "complicated" and what is "compl... more SUMMARY There are big differences between what is "complicated" and what is "complex". This chapter explores what complexity is about, and in plain language terms explains the relevance for multilateral disarmament practitioners of scientific concepts like phase transitions, self-organized criticality, and complexity and network theory. Moreover, it shows how and why complexity science is relevant to understanding problems of human insecurity such as small arms proliferation, and to more effective responses. In addition, multilateral negotiations can themselves be considered as complex social systems, which has practical implications for improving the ways in which negotiators work.

Download

The humanitarian effects of cluster munitions: why should we worry?

T here is growing international concern about the humanitarian effects of cluster munitions, part... more T here is growing international concern about the humanitarian effects of cluster munitions, particularly following their use in Afghanistan, Chechnya, Iraq, Kosovo and most recently in Lebanon. Research indicates that, in the limited set of conflicts in which they have been used, submunitions from cluster weapons are a disproportionate hazard to civilians, both at the time of their use as well as post conflict. 1

Download

Viewing nuclear weapons through a humanitarian lens: Context and implications

Viewing Nuclear Weapons through a Humanitarian Lens, 2013

The Value of Diversity in Multilateral Disarmament Work

by John Borrie and Ashley Thornton

Cover photograph © Clark Dunbar/Corbis.

Download

Unacceptable harm : a history of how the treaty to ban cluster munitions was won

... Col. Jim Burke, Ambassador Daithf O&amp;amp;amp;amp;#x27;Ceallaigh, Tim Caughley, Laura C... more

Alternative approaches in multilateral decision making : Disarmament as humanitarian action

by Vanessa Randin and John Borrie

... leader of the Disarmament as Humanitarian Action project, recently returned to UNIDIR after a... more

Thinking outside the box in multilateral disarmament and arms control negotiations

About the cover Frieden (Peace) was a gift from the artist Rene Brandenberger to the City of Gene... more

Disarmament as Humanitarian Action From Perspective to Practice

format_quoteEmerging international consensus recognizes human costs of weapons on civilians, driving the convergence of disarmament and humanitarianism.format_quote

Download

An illusion of safety Challenges to UN emergency preparedness, humanitarian coordination & response to nuclear detonation events

Presentation of findings from UNIDIR's study on challenges to UN humanitarian coordination an... more

Download

Viewing Nuclear Weapons through a Humanitarian Lens

is renewed and deep international concern about the catastrophic humanitarian consequences that w... more is renewed and deep international concern about the catastrophic humanitarian consequences that would result from the detonation of nuclear weapons in populated areas. Yet 25 years after the end of the Cold War, nuclear weapons and nuclear deterrence remain central to the security doctrines of a significant number of states. Drawing on a range of perspectives, this volume explores what viewing nuclear weapons through a humanitarian lens entails, and why it is of value. Recent developments in this respect are also examined, as well as what these could mean for nuclear arms control in the near future.

Download

Risk, ‘normal accidents’, and nuclear weapons

Although improvements in managing nuclear weapons might reduce risk, factors like competing organ... more Although improvements in managing nuclear weapons might reduce risk, factors like competing organizational agendas, biases, human frailty and the incomprehensibility of systems failures to their designers and operators mean that risk cannot be eliminated. One difficulty in assessing risk of detonation of nuclear weapons is due to lack of transparency on the part of possessors about their safety records. This serves to detract from claims that nuclear deterrence is safe or sustainable. At the same time, evidence from catastrophic accidents involving hazardous technologies of various kinds indicates that significant risk is endemic in complex and tightly coupled systems, as nuclear weapon control systems must be if nuclear deterrence is to function.

Download

A Harmful Legacy: The Lingering Humanitarian Impacts of Nuclear Weapons Testing

There have been more than 2,000 nuclear detonations as part of the weapons testing programmes of ... more There have been more than 2,000 nuclear detonations as part of the weapons testing programmes of at least eight nations—the majority of these devices exploded underground since a partial test ban was agreed in the 1960s. The impacts on human health and wellbeing from nuclear tests are both longer lasting and broader in scope than is often realized. Health consequences of nuclear weapons testing have fallen most heavily on minority, rural, or disenfranchised populations because governments have tended to situate their test sites in remote areas populated by such groups.

Download

An Illusion of Safety: Challenges of Nuclear Weapon Detonations for United Nations Humanitarian Coordination and Response

is renewed and deep international concern about the consequences of the detonation of nuclear wea... more is renewed and deep international concern about the consequences of the detonation of nuclear weapons in populated areas. Prompted by findings from international conferences on their humanitarian impacts held in Norway in March 2013 and Mexico in February 2014, this UNIDIR study explores the challenges for activation and operation of the humanitarian system in a range of plausible, illustrative nuclear weapon detonation scenarios. As a scoping exercise the study identifies specific issues that warrant further policy and operational attention in order to enhance civilian protection from nuclear weapons. It suggests steps the humanitarian system could take to better plan for such eventualities, as well as the redoubling of efforts to prevent nuclear weapons ever being used again in populated areas—whether deliberately or accidentally.

Download

Viewing Weapons Through a Humanitarian Lens: From Cluster Munitions to Nukes?

Irish Studies in International Affairs, 2014

ABSTRACT There are marked differences between nuclear weapons on the one hand, and anti-personnel... more ABSTRACT There are marked differences between nuclear weapons on the one hand, and anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions on the other. Nonetheless, the like- minded international processes to ban these weapons through treaties succeeded in reframing policy discourses from ones in which arguments over these weapons’ intended uses were paramount, to situations in which their actual effects received focus, and led to bans on humanitarian grounds. Evidence of impact formed the basis for argumentation and civil society advocacy that put pressure on state policy-makers to change their minds. Today, the Mine Ban Treaty and the Convention on Cluster Munitions have considerable stigmatising effect. It is not simplistic to conclude that there is much to learn from these initiatives that could be—and to an extent already is—adapted to nuclear disarmament efforts. Ireland is well placed to capitalise upon such lessons as a government traditionally active in promoting nuclear disarmament, and prominent in the negotiations of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

John Borrie

Uploads

Papers by John Borrie

Log In