July 12, 2012

Ted Bromund

A new treaty isn’t the solution to proliferation of arms to terrorist groups, The Heritage Foundation’s Ted Bromund argued yesterday at the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty conference.

“It is member states that, by design or negligence, arm terrorists and violate existing embargoes,” Bromund said. “What is needed is not a new treaty on the arms trade. It is nations that are willing and able to uphold the commitments they have already made.”

The treaty suffers from wishful thinking about the power of international law, he argued:

Supporters of the ATT argue that we need it to raise national standards on the import, export, and transfer of arms. But if any nation wishes to raise its standards, it is free to do so now. The fact is that many U.N. member states have neither the desire nor the ability to raise their standards. A treaty will not compel or enable them to do so.

Click here to read Bromund’s speech in its entirety.