Disarmament in Review
United Nations Efforts to Reduce Military Expenditures: A Historical Overview
Download PDF
English
Order hard copy
UN Publications
Overview
This publication provides a historical survey of efforts within the United Nations to reduce military spending. Starting with the Charter, which envisages the maintenance of international peace and security with the least diversion of resources to arms, reducing military spending was actively pursued throughout the cold war period as a distinct objective within broader negotiations on general and complete disarmament. Separate and distinct efforts to pursue reductions in the military expenditures of the major Powers gave rise to a parallel effort to develop means for sharing information and comparing military spending between States. The resulting mechanism, the United Nations Report on Military Expenditures, continues to function as a means for promoting transparency on military matters. The reduction of military spending was also examined over a period of decades as a means of obtaining resources needed to meet the development objectives of the Organization. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has presented another opportunity for promoting a new common understanding of the relationships between disarmament and development.
Author
Michael Spies
Product Details
ISBN: 978-92-1-139175-6
eISBN: 978-92-1-004645-9
Sales No.: E.20.IX.1
Publication date: October 2019
