The doctoral research, under the direction of Professor Quentin Michel, will be dedicated to Transparency in arms control: a guarantee for successful implementation? Comparative study on different mechanisms for information exchange and their verification regimes, and assessment of their impact and efficiency on the implementation of international arms control treaties.
Transparency and exchange of information are essential elements in arms control treaties and conventions. Aimed at creating confidence between States Parties, they also allow monitoring the progress in implementing these treaties.
But what is meant by transparency? Different stakeholders not always have the same perception on the substance and level of transparency required. Defining transparency is needed by comparing with other control mechanisms and without limiting the scope to disarmament.
The research will make an inventory of the different treaties, conventions, arms control instruments and other related politically and legally binding documents. This inventory will be completed by an analysis of the substance of those treaties and a study of the different transparency regimes, their substance, institutional aspect and the verification measures. This will also allow to define the scope of the study.
Through the establishment of an analysis grid the research will examine the possibility of “categorising” the different treaties and transparency regimes. The study will consider the importance of the transparency regime and its use as a management tool in the implementation of the treaty. Is the information used to outline the policy to follow in the implementation of the different arms control or disarmament instruments? Does, and in what degree, the transparency regime contribute to the successful implementation? And are they efficient in doing so?
The comparative study between the different treaties, transparency regimes, and a combination of both, and the use made of these information exchange instruments will allow us to draw conclusions on their efficiency in the implementation of arms control and disarmament treaties. Are some instruments more efficient than others?