"This article considers the potential impact of the Hague Code of Conduct, in both the near- and long-term, on efforts to address threats to regional and global security posed by the proliferation of ballistic missiles and related technology. While the omens from the launch are hardly auspicious, the initiative may yet prove able to make a valuable contribution to strengthening this crucial but sadly neglected aspect of the international non-proliferation regime."
The author makes a case for establishing cooperative projects between India and Pakistan to share commercial satellite imagery on nuclear facilities to "provide a non-intrusive beginning in greater nuclear transparency" between the two countries.
The approved draft proposal of an international ballistic missile code of conduct will do little to stop missile proliferation, arms control experts told Global Security Newswire this week, although some said the code is a progressive step towards more transparency in arms control.
Politicians from 78 countries are attending a conference to help produce international guidelines aimed at curbing the proliferation of ballistic missiles. The guidelines would look to make it difficult for countries to buy missiles from exporting nations and to improve weapons monitoring systems.
High-resolution commercial satellite imagery increases the visibility of areas of the world that were until recently seen by only a few intelligence agencies. Activities in totalitarian states such as North Korea are now visible to anyone. An episode involving North Korean secret nuclear weapon activities in the early 1990s demonstrates the power that such imagery can provide to the public and international organizations.