As noted in Obama and Clinton cede on U.N. arms treaty, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced recently that the U.S. would reverse Bush administration opposition to global small arms negotiations, paving the way for the U.N. “Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty” which could lead to export limitations within three years.
Reuters new agency now reports that:
“The world's top weapons exporters agreed to back negotiations on a global treaty to regulate the world's $55 billion arms trade… The deal came after negotiators from four of the top arms traders -- the United States, Britain, France and Germany overcame sharp disagreements on the wording of a U.N. General Assembly resolution that will guide negotiations on a treaty, which were to begin next year and conclude in 2012.”
Unlike when Bush administration ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton rejected such restrictions, recent negotiations have centered not on the extent of restrictions which, as construed by some, could impact Americans’ ability to buy imported firearms, but instead on whether or not unanimous consent would be required to impose the restrictions. John Duncan, described by Reuters as Britain’s “disarmament ambassador,” called the measures “long overdue.”
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