THE PSI: stemming the nuclear danger: Michael Richardson discusses the role of the Proliferation Security Initiative in counter-proliferation in the Asia-Pacific region.

• Author: Richardson, Michael
• Position: Proliferation Security Initiative - Organization overview

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The Proliferation Security Initiative, known by its initials as the PSI, was formed by the United States and other concerned nations, including Australia and Japan, in May 2003. Its aim is to deter, detect and if necessary intercept at sea, on land or in the air shipments of weapons of mass destruction, their delivery systems and related items. The sea is a major focus of the PSI because oceans cover 70 per cent of the world's surface and carry over 80 per cent of its trade by volume.

The decision to establish the PSI was prompted by two things. First, growing concern about weapons of mass destruction materials and technology falling into the hands of terrorists. Weapons of mass destruction are usually defined as chemical and biological agents and nuclear explosive devices. But the PSI also guards against illegal trade in radioactive materials. When packaged with conventional explosives, such material could be used for radiological, or 'dirty', bombs and detonated by terrorists as weapons of mass disruption, to create panic and fear.

The second concern that led to the PSI being established were the loopholes in current arms control treaties and arrangements. These did not adequately cover non-state actors, or terrorists. They also allowed countries like North Korea, and possibly Iran, to develop nuclear weapons under the guise of peaceful activity, by saying that they want to use atomic power to generate electricity in power reactors, or to run research reactors for scientific and commercial purposes. Instead, they use the plutonium or enriched uranium that are part of the nuclear fuel cycle to make bombs.

Strong supporter

New Zealand has become a strong supporter of the PSI. The government sent one of the country's P3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft to Japan in October 2007 to take part in a PSI exercise organised by Japan. Australia, Britain, France, Singapore and the United States also contributed planes or ships or both to the simulated interception operation at sea off Japan. New Zealand hosted a meeting in Auckland in March 2007 of operational experts from countries that participate in the PSI. New Zealand also joined around nineteen other PSI members in a 'table-top' exercise at the US Naval War College in June. A table-top exercise does not involve actual military deployments but trains the people taking part in co-ordinating appropriate responses, within and among partner countries, to a series of threats relating to possible weapons of mass destruction proliferation.

The PSI conforms with New Zealand's interest in improving counter-proliferation as well as arms control. It enables New Zealand to work more closely with its trans-Tasman ally, Australia, and also sustain security co-operation with the United States, within the constraints of the nuclear-free policy New Zealand put in place in the mid-1980s. The PSI is a voluntary programme. Countries that support the PSI Statement of Interdiction Principles issued in September 2003 remain free to take part in its activities or not, as their national interests and global responsibilities dictate. The principles specifically state that PSI activities will be consistent with national legal authorities and relevant international law and frameworks, including resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.

New Zealand was among countries that were initially concerned that the PSI might operate in ways that contravened national and international law. After all, the PSI was an initiative of the United States, one of the few nations yet to ratify the UN treaty on the law of the sea. However, the New Zealand government is evidently satisfied that the PSI is working in ways that are consistent with relevant law. It is not alone in this assessment. From eleven founding members, the PSI has expanded to include 86 declared participants, or nearly half the member states of the United Nations.

Perceived need

Why do so many countries think that something like the PSI is needed? When al-Qaeda used four hijacked civilian jet airliners to strike the United States, killing nearly 3000 people from 80 nations, the shockwaves reverberated around the world. The use of civilian planes as weapons to hit New York and Washington in September 2001 exposed a whole new degree of vulnerability in the global transport system. It also raised government and public anxiety about mass casualty terrorism to a new level. The need to act quickly and effectively after 9/11 to prevent WMD terrorism motivated the United States and the small group of likeminded partners who founded the PSI to avoid a treaty-based approach, which would have involved long and cumbersome negotiations and yielded results only slowly, if at all, given the widely differing national interests and threat perceptions of the 191 member states in the United Nations.

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Nine countries--the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France, Israel, India, North Korea and Pakistan--are known to have nuclear weapons. The West suspects Iran of seeking nuclear arms, although Teheran denies this. However, the technology, know-how and materials for making nuclear weapons are becoming more widely accessible as many nations around the world develop their scientific and industrial capacity. Some materials that circulate quite widely in...