Topic: 2026 – Verification of Disarmament
Country: France
Delegate Name: Rocco Brown
Being the ultimate goal of DISEC, disarmament is a key principle that this committee must be able to secure. While only half a percentage of countries may have weapons of mass destruction, any amount, no matter how small, could cause catastrophic damage (Floyd). As one of these countries, the Delegation of France believes in disarmament; the nature of this disarmament must be proven to be factual. Since 2008, France has had a cap on nuclear weapons, being verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the European Atomic Energy Agency (Ministère). It is through cooperation that the delegation achieves safe and secure verification. The issue lies in that while verification does exist, it is usually fragmented into numerous treaties, with only the nations as a part of these agreements being the verifiers. It needs to be achieved through an established objective, a united effort, so that verification can be ensured.
Multilateral nonproliferation agreements are under threat. As geopolitical tensions rise, nations have continued to undermine norms and verification measures. Additionally, emerging technologies threaten to exploit verification loopholes and lower barriers to weapon production (Brashears). Countries also have subtle agendas to thwart attempts to reach consensus. For example, Russia used its veto authority within the UN Security Council in 2017 to curtail the tenure of the investigative team responsible for attributing the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Civil War (Brashears). With so much uncertainty at play, it is clear the UN must find a way to ensure that countries are being truthful, with no foul play.
The Delegation of France believes this issue must be solved through accountability and checks and balances to ensure countries aren’t abusing their powers to hinder this goal. By proposing the United Nations Verification Task Force (UNVTF), the Delegation of France believes that the validity of verification can be accomplished through this objective body. Through the Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, the Delegation of France has established 16 Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaties in French territories, which ban all use of nuclear weapons for civilian and military uses (Ministère). The delegation believes that expanding programs like these helps aid this committee’s goal of disarmament. This body, consisting of UN-approved auditors, these workers will go into countries claiming disarmament (with their consent) in order to prove that disarmament has truly occurred and additionally establish further disarmament treaties internally and externally. Finally, the delegation of France believes that the International Court of Justice must investigate and prosecute any countries that try to interfere with UN investigations, such as what was mentioned with Russia in 2017. All of us must be held accountable in order to achieve this. Only through cooperation can this body achieve the goals of what DISEC has sought to do.
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Work Cited:
Brashears, Sydney. Verification at Risk: Examining Growing Challenges to Verify, cgsr.llnl.gov/sites/cgsr/files/2025-03/verification-at-risk.pdf. Accessed 10 Feb. 2026.
Floyd. “The Countries Expanding Their Nuclear Arsenal.” BLACKSEA CASPIA, blacksea-caspia.eu/en/countries-expanding-their-nuclear-arsenal. Accessed 9 Feb. 2026.
Ministère de l’Europe et des Affaires étrangères. “Nuclear Disarmament.” France Diplomacy – Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/french-foreign-policy/security-disarmament-and-non-proliferation/disarmament-and-non-proliferation/treaty-on-the-non-proliferation-of-nuclear-weapons/nuclear-disarmament/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
