[Doctoral seminar] Historical insights into arms control law

The International Arms Control Law Hub is organising the fifth arms control law seminar focused on historical insights into arms control law. Early career researchers are invited to attend the seminar which offers the opportunity to receive guidance from experience researchers in the field as well as to discuss their research with a network of arms control scholars.

Revisiting the historical context
Largely, arms control law has been perceived as a fairly recent branch of international law. While this is true in principle, there are precedents which deserve to be discussed in light of current challenges. In contrast to earlier seminars, we will invite doctoral and postdoctoral researchers to prepare with reading of specific texts featuring around three major topics:

•          Post-war arms control law
•          Ius in bello and arms control law
•          Institutional settings of the League of Nations and the United Nations

The first topic explored will be post-war arms control law. We will analyse and critically review the imposition of restrictions on armaments upon parties to an armed conflict who lost the war. Apart from getting acquainted with pertinent historical instruments, we will contextualize these, and we will reflect upon their effectiveness. The second topic addresses the links between ius in bello and arms control law by focusing on the interface between laws of war and the elimination of certain categories of weapons. Outlawing chemical weapons, and failures to outlaw them earlier, will be at the centre of our considerations. Finally, we will address and compare institutional settings of the League of Nations and the United Nations, as well as pertinent provisions in the Covenant and the Charter. Registered participants will receive reading to be completed and should be prepared to discuss these with senior academics at the workshop.

Roundtable discussion
In addition, and as is our well-established practice, participants will engage in a roundtable discussion about their own research topics, guided by Asser Institute researchers. During the roundtable session, the participating doctoral candidates and postdoctoral researchers have the option to give individual 15-minute formal presentations on their research.

Participation in the workshop is extended to approximately 10 doctoral candidates and postdoctoral researchers who are currently conducting research in arms control, whether from legal, historical, political or theoretical perspectives. Please email Alexandra Pinto Damas to apply for the event by Monday 27 November 2023, including your position, university affiliation and area of research. Participants wishing to present their research should additionally submit a short abstract on their presentation topic by email to Alexandra by Friday 8 December 2023. Acceptance will be on a first-come, first-served basis.

A limited number of travel grants is available. Attendance is in-person only.

Download the full programme.

Timeline