Global Non-proliferation and Counter-Terrorism: The Impact of UNSCR 1540

Adopted in April 2004, UN Security Council Resolution 1540 obliges all states to take steps to prevent non-state actors from acquiring and using weapons of mass destruction, related materials, and their means of delivery for terrorist purposes. The United Nations thus placed itself firmly in the center of the world's key international security challenges. In this important book noted scholars and policymakers Olivia Bosch and Peter van Ham examine a broad range of counter-proliferation measures, such as the Proliferation Security Initiative, within the scope of the resolution, and discuss its impact on the bioscientific community, the Chemical Weapons Convention, the International Atomic Energy Agency, trade and custom, and the role of the UN.

UNSCR 1540 calls on each state to prioritize and systematize its legal frameworks for curtailing proliferation. Its adoption raises many questions. How are the resolution's provisions being made operational and enforceable? Will 1540 make up for the inadequacies of the existing non-proliferation treaty regimes? Could it, in fact, serve as the foundation for a new system of international governance that effectively stifles proliferation, terrorism, and illicit trafficking? The complex issues highlighted in Global Non-proliferation and Counter-Terrorism will prove relevant for years to come.

About the editors

Olivia Bosch is associate fellow in the International Security Program at Chatham House (Royal Institute of International Affairs), London and former weapons inspector in Iraq. Peter van Ham is director Global Governance Research at the Netherlands Institute of International Relations 'Clingendeal', The Hague and professor at the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium.