Security Council Set to Renew UN 1540 Resolution

April 20, 2011

Today, the United Nations Security Council is expected to renew the mandate of Resolution 1540, a WMD nonproliferation measure aiming to prevent non-state actors from acquiring chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. The renewal is a major step in the fight to reduce the risk of a WMD terrorist attack.Stimson Center experts, in cooperation with the UN and its member states, as well as with the Organization of American States, have been instrumental in establishing Resolution 1540 implementation coordinators in the Caribbean and Central America. Research and analysis are also ongoing vis-à-vis the Middle East, East Africa, the Andean region and Southeast Asia.

The Stimson Center has also created an interactive tool demonstrating the use of Resolution 1540 for developed and developing countries called the Pathfinder. Use it to see where countries have overlapping security and development goals that could be addressed by implementing Resolution 1540.

In an op-ed yesterday in The Hill, Johan Bergenas, wrote that Resolution 1540 is one measure that has "gone from being widely unpopular and largely disregarded among numerous U.N. members to being [a] widely accepted pillar of the nonproliferation regime...And poorer countries are able to use the funding available from resolution 1540 to build capacity in areas directly affecting their citizens' daily lives, such as small arms and drugs countertrafficking. The net result is greater involvement by the developing world in nonproliferation efforts."

Addtional 1540 work from the Managing Across Boundaries team:

Johan Bergenas, "Memo to Congress: the UN Works," The Hill, (April 2011)

Brian Finlay, "Save money, live better: Doing more with fewer nonproliferation dollars," The Hill, (March 2011)

Brian Finlay and Johan Bergenas' article series published in World Politics Review (Parts I, II, III, IV, V)

Brian Finlay, Johan Bergenas and Veronica Tessler, "Beyond Boundaries in Eastern Africa: Bridging the Security/Development Divide With International Security Assistance", Stimson Center and Stanley Foundation Report, March 2011.

Johan Bergenas, The Case for Smart Assistance to the Middle East - World Politics Review (February 2011)

Johan Bergenas, Fighting Security Challenges With Regional Cooperation - World Politics Review (December 2010)

Johan Bergenas' report "A Piece of the Global Puzzle"

Brian Finlay and Johan Bergenas, The West Must Expend Resources Wisely in Yemen - World Politics Review (October 2010)

Brian Finlay, Johan Bergenas and Veronica Tessler's report, "Beyond Boundaries in the Middle East"

Brian Finlay, "WMD, Drugs, and Criminal Gangs in Central America"

Brian Finlay, Bridging the Security/Development Divide with UN Security Council Resolution 1540