Arms Limitation and Disarmament Agreements; Bilateral Agreements
Since the inception of the United Nations, the combined efforts of Governments, at the multilateral and bilateral levels, have resulted in limited yet significant agreements on various arms limitation and disarmament measures. Multilateral instruments concluded so far are:
* The 1959 Antarctic Treaty, which provides for the demilitarization of Antarctica. It prohibits in the Antarctic region any measures of military nature, such as military manoeuvres, weapon tests, nuclear explosions, building of installations or disposal of radioactive wastes.
* The 1963 Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and under Water (Partial Test-Ban Treaty), considered a partial measure in that it does not ban underground tests.
* The 1967 Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (Outer Space Treaty), which bans nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction from Earth's orbit, prohibits the military use of celestial bodies or the placing of nuclear weapons on those bodies and bars the stationing of weapons in outer space,
* The 1967 Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America (Treaty of Tlatelolco), which created the first nuclear-weapon-free zone in a densely populated area. It was also the first arms limitation agreement to provide for verification by an international organization.
* The 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (Non-Proliferation Treaty), which aims at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons to nonnuclear-weapon countries, and at promoting the process of nuclear disarmament and guaranteeing all countries access to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. …