Will the Obama Administration Support An International Arms Trade Treaty?

Today I got to sit through the United Nations General Assembly conference on disarmament thanks to Oxfam International's Conflict Voice initiative.

While many of the delegates discussed nuclear non-proliferation, one of the big questions at the Assembly was whether or not the United States would change its position on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) now that President Obama is at the helm of U.S. foreign policy decisions.

In October 2008, 145 states voted to start the UN process toward an Arms Trade Treaty showing increasing global consensus in favor of its adoption. At that time, the United States was the only country besides Zimbabwe to explicitly vote "No" on the treaty proceedings.

And then in the speech today from Ellen Tauscher, the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, the topic of arms trade was noticeably absent making it clear that the Obama administration is not ready to create change on this issue, yet.

Tauscher, who is a higher-level official compared to those sent to the UN by the Bush administration, used her ten minutes on the Assembly floor mostly to highlight U.S. efforts toward nuclear non-proliferation. Tauscher barely mentioned the arms trade except for one short statement about restricting illegal arms trafficking into the U.S. The lack of discussion about the Arms Trade Treaty could mean that Obama hasn't chosen to address this topic yet or that the U.S. will again vote "No" on this measure.

For those unfamiliar with small arms trade, there are estimated to be nearly 650 million small arms in the world today. Oxfam International has reported that 2.1 million people have died as a result of armed violence. And women, in particular, are disproportionally affected by the arms trade as victims of it's violence. While available data supports the widespread assumption that most direct casualties of gun violence are men, particularly young men, women also suffer from firearms violence indirectly.

For example, WomenDeliver writes about how displaced women and girls are vulnerable to rape and other forms of sexual violence as they flee violent areas, when they search for firewood and even when they go to the bathroom at night. After a conflict, women become the main breadwinners and primary carers when male relatives are killed, injured or disabled by gun violence. And women, like men, are caught in the crossfire, both in times of war and of peace.

In general, the passage of the ATT would help prevent the sale of American weapons that are then used to commit human rights abuses or kill U.S. soldiers and peacekeepers when trafficked arms get into the wrong hands. The ATT would not effect national ownership of weapons in the United States, but rather help control movement of arms globally which is currently unregulated on an international level.

During the General Assembly, I got to hear one of the strongest pleas for passage of the ATT by Kenya's UN delegate who said that "longtime economic development is tied to longtime security." He reported that the lack of an Arms Trade Treaty has made it especially challenging for the Kenyan government to invest in human capital and create sustained peace or security while being forced to spend money on armed protection.

It is my hope that after hearing the different perspectives on this issue that the U.S. will decide to step up and assist in the passage of the Arms Trade Treaty in order to reduce violent conflict, human rights abuses and the misappropriation of U.S. weapons into the wrong hands around the world.