Oxford Martin School

The latest seminar in our 'Getting to Zero' series was given by Dr Rebecca Johnson, Executive Director of the Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy. Speaking on the topic of nuclear weapons, Dr Johnson made a passionate argument about the importance of marginalising the use, possession and supply of such weapons.

Dr Johnson began on a positive note, referencing a quote from 'Weapons of Terror', a 2006 report by Hans Blix's WMD Commission, to which she was a Senior Advisor:

'Weapons of mass destruction cannot be un-invented. But they can be outlawed, as biological and chemical weapons have been, and their use made unthinkable. Compliance, verification and enforcement rules can, with the requisite will, be effectively applied. And with that will, even the eventual elimination of nuclear weapons is not beyond the world's reach.'

She went on to argue that, while doctrines such as nuclear deterrence are accepted, the world will never be free of nuclear weapons and that banning the use of all such weapons would be a key step on the road towards total abolition. In order to achieve this goal, Dr Johnson would like to see the use of nuclear weapons, under any circumstances, classified as a crime against humanity.

Dr Johnson believes that this classification would be justified because nuclear weapons are indiscriminate, annihilating combatants and non-combatants alike and destroying habitats and the environment on a massive scale. It was argued that this classification would simply turn a widespread ethical understanding into a legal norm. Responsibility for this crime would rest with individuals, governments and anyone responsible for supplying, or enabling the supply of the materials for such weapons.

While Dr Johnson accepted that declaring the use of nuclear weapons to be a crime against humanity could not eliminate all the associated dangers overnight, she believes that it would both reduce the value and attraction of nuclear weapons to existing and aspiring nuclear powers, and provide clear legal mechanisms allowing the international community to hold to account any individual or government involved with nuclear weapons.

As for how the goal of declaring nuclear weapons use a crime against humanity might be achieved, Dr Johnson suggested three possible approaches:

• Amending the definition of ‘crimes against humanity' in the 1998 Rome Statute.
• Using the Security Council to recognize or make the use of nuclear weapons a crime against humanity.
• Encouraging a series of unilateral declarations by individual governments.

The discussion following Dr Johnson's presentation touched on a wide range of issues. Questions included:

• Framing the debate in the context of crimes against humanity sets a very hard target. Would a more gradual approach not be more successful?
• What does this debate imply for the future of nuclear energy?
• Would it be fair to say that the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is dying?
• Has the international community ever been successful in banning any weapons with a comparable standing to nuclear weapons?

A podcast of this lecture will be made available shortly, on our 'Getting to Zero' podcast page. We invite continued discussion and comments below.