Disarmament Exhibition: “100 Years of Disarmament and 40 years of the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva”

Ambassador [H.E. Mr. Aidan Liddle - UK],
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

A warm welcome to the Palais des Nations.

Thank you first of all to Ambassador Liddle and the Permanent Mission of the UK for bringing us this exhibition.

An exhibition that in its very title mentions not one, but two significant anniversaries: a 100 years of disarmament; and 40 years of the Conference on Disarmament.

Anniversaries invite us to take a moment of introspection; they help us recognize the debt we owe to those who came before us; and they remind us of our responsibility to future generations.

Reflect for a moment on everything achieved - from the League of Nations’ Covenant in 1919 demanding the “reduction of armaments”, to the prohibition of chemical and biological weapons, to banning the testing of nuclear weapons.

The treaties, norms and instruments that make up the existing disarmament regime were painstakingly constructed over many years.

They were agreed despite a climate of mistrust; of great power competition; of ballooning military expenditures and arms races; of regional and global tensions - all of these are headwinds that multilateralism has shown it can withstand.

As long as there is genuine good will; as long as there is courageous leadership; as long as there is civility and mutual respect for the multilateral process.

But much as we can take courage from the past on display in this exhibition, it also carries echoes of the past that serve as cautionary tales.

Three stand out to me:

̶ First, that multipolarity might be a factor of equilibrium, but never a guarantor of peace. Europe was multipolar before the First World War; the world is moving towards multpolarity today. In the absence of robust multilateral mechanisms, such multipolarity becomes volatile and dangerous.
̶ Second, that our failure to meaningfully grapple with the most pressing security issues of the time - whether it’s about the deadliest nuclear weapons or about the newest and least understood cyberweapons - failure to address the toughest issues is the surest way towards irrelevance.
̶ And three, that whenever states seek security not in the collective value of diplomacy and dialogue, but in the false protection of weapons - they are sleepwalking into disaster.

All of these are echoes of the past that have a disconcerting resonance today.

They should jolt us into action - towards constructive, candid dialogue; towards substantive work; and ultimately towards tangible agreements.

That alone will allow the Conference on Disarmament to reclaim its place atop the disarmament terrain that its founders envisioned - and that alone will enable it to do what it was created to do: to make the world a safer place.

Thank you.