新世纪英语专业本科生（修订版）综合教程4（第2版）电子教案 Unit 4
29. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Additional notes
1. The United Nations Disarmament Commission (UNDC) is a deliberative body and a subsidiary organ of the UN General Assembly, which is mandated to consider and make recommendations on various disarmament-related issues and to follow up the relevant decisions and recommendations of the special sessions devoted to disarmament held so far.
The Disarmament Commission was re-established at the first Special Session of the General Assembly devoted to Disarmament in 1978 to succeed an earlier Disarmament Commission, which ceased to convene after 1965. It consists of all Member States and holds its substantive yearly sessions in New York.
Since 1978, the Disarmament Commission has dealt with numerous disarmament-related questions, both nuclear and conventional, and has submitted guidelines and principles on various subject items, including guidelines for appropriate types of confidence-building measures, guidelines and recommendations for regional approaches to disarmament within the context of global security, and guidelines and recommendations for objective information on military matters.
2. Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (Paragraph 16): This Treaty bans all nuclear explosions in all environments, for military or civilian purposes. It opened for signature in New York on September 24, 1996, when it was signed by 71 States, including five of the eight then nuclear-capable states. As of May 2010, 153 states have ratified the treaty and another 29 states have signed but not ratified it.
3. Conference on Disarmament (Paragraph 17): The Conference on Disarmament (CD), established in 1979 as the single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum of the international community, was a result of the first Special Session on Disarmament of the United Nations General Assembly held in 1978. It succeeded other Geneva-based negotiating fora, which include the Ten-Nation Committee on Disarmament (1960), the Eighteen-Nation Committee on Disarmament (1962－68), and the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament (1969－78).
Questions for discussion
1. Why is the world situation uncertain and unpredictable?
2. How many measures does the speaker propose for advancing nuclear disarmament? Repeat two or three of these points.
3. What does the speaker suggest the nuclear-weapon States should do for nuclear disarmament? Why is it so important?
4. What did you learn about confidence-building measures (CBMs)? 5. What did China do concerning CBMs, according to the speaker? 6. Why is the multilateral approach necessary to nuclear disarmament?
Key to questions for discussion
1. It is uncertain and unpredictable because military confrontation caused by disputes over territory, resources, religion and interest continues and non-traditional security threats
26
新世纪英语专业本科生（修订版）综合教程4（第2版）电子教案 Unit 4
characterized by terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction have become more salient.
2. The speaker proposes several measures for nuclear disarmament. Refer to Paragraphs 5－14. 3. It is suggested that nuclear-weapon States should reduce their respective nuclear arsenals drastically and in a legally binding form, and destroy the nuclear weapons reduced. They should not use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon States or nuclear-weapon-free zones at any time or under any circumstances. Besides, if they have deployed nuclear weapon abroad, they should withdraw them back to their own territories.
4. While disarmament measures are necessary to restrict nuclear weapons, concrete and practical confidence-building measures (CBMs) need to be established in the field of conventional arms. CBMs aim to lessen anxiety and suspicion by making the parties’ behavior more predictable. CBMs are agreements between two or more parties regarding exchanges of information and verification, typically with respect to the use of military forces and armaments. Some measures attempt to make military capabilities more transparent and clarify the intention of military and political activities. Others establish rules regarding the movement of military forces, as well as mechanisms for verifying compliance with such rules. Such agreements are meant to build trust among the conflicting parties and limit escalation.
5. In 1996 and 1997, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and China signed the Agreement on Confidence Building in the Military Field in Border Areas and the Agreement on Mutual Reduction of Military Forces in the Border Areas. On 15 July 2001, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and China signed the Declaration of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and declared the founding of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The six countries decided to cooperate extensively in the security, political, anti-terrorist, economic, cultural and technological field, enhance mutual trust and good-neighborliness and maintain regional peace and stability. On 4 Nov. 2002, China and ASEAN countries signed the Declaration on Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, committing themselves to exploring possible means to build confidence on the basis of equality and mutual respect.
6. The multilateral approach is necessary because more than one country possesses nuclear weapons and these weapons cannot be reduced and destroyed without willing cooperation between the nuclear states, especially nuclear powers like the United States.
II. Memorable quotes
There was never a good war or a bad peace.
－ Benjamin Franklin
There is no trust more sacred than the one the world holds with children. There is no duty more important than ensuring that their rights are respected, that their welfare is protected, that their lives are free from fear and want and that they grow up in peace.
－ Kofi Annan
About Benjamin Franklin and Kofi Annan
Benjamin Franklin (1706－1790) is considered to be one of the greatest American minds and a proud pillar of American heritage. He was one of the leading founding fathers of the United States of America. He was a member of the committee that drafted the Declaration of
27
新世纪英语专业本科生（修订版）综合教程4（第2版）电子教案 Unit 4
Independence and was one of its signatories. He also signed the Constitution of the United States, and served as the new nation’s ablest diplomat. Moreover, he was also unequaled in America as an inventor until Thomas Edison. He invented the Franklin stove, bifocal eyeglasses and the lightning rod.
Kofi Annan (1938－ ), the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations, served from 1997 to 2006 and was the first to emerge from the ranks of United Nations staff.
One of Mr. Annan’s main priorities as Secretary-General was a comprehensive programme of reform aimed at revitalizing the United Nations and making the international system more effective. He was a constant advocate for human rights, the rule of law, the Millennium Development Goals and Africa, and sought to bring the Organization closer to the global public by forging ties with civil society, the private sector and other partners.
Discussion
Topic : War and Science
Warfare and science have been inextricably linked throughout the history of human existence. Particularly from World War I and on, scientific developments have been utilized by militaries and militant groups to maim and kill on a massive scale. Without the research and work of the world’s leading scientists, nuclear weapons never would have come into existence. Military funding of scientific research has also led to a variety of other major developments, from radar (Woodruff) to computers (Brown) to heat-seeking missiles (Brennan Torpedo). Today, the strong link between science and warfare continues throughout the world. Have a discussion on the question: Is science a servant or a part of the war system?
Keys:
Science is linked with the war system in several ways: by research funding, the direction of technological change, the criteria for important scientific problems and the structure of the scientific community. One way to look at this is as an orientation of science to serve the war system. In this view, science is a servant equally capable of serving other ends.
Another view is that science by its nature is more a part of the war system: by the nature of current scientific knowledge, by the nature of the practice of scientific research, and by the nature of the structure of the scientific community. Before considering which of these views is more useful, it is important to ask, what is the war system?
28