Credits: 9
Learning objectives
The purpose of this course is to provide knowledge regarding the sensitive issue of dual-use items and technology control and non-proliferation. The United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540, adopted on 28 April 2004, decided that all States must take and enforce effective measures to establish domestic controls to prevent the proliferation of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and their means of delivery.
Related matters are materials, equipment and technology items covered by relevant multilateral treaties and arrangements, or included on national control lists.
Arms control and non-proliferation goes under the Italian Law 185/90 and its amendments, while the European state members adopt the 428/2009 Regulation and its amendments, which sets up a Community regime for the control of exports, transfer, brokering and transit of dual-use items. Both the Italian Law 185/90 and the EU Reg. 428/2009 provide the list of arms and dual-use items and technologies according to the international non-proliferation regimes and the international treaties such as the Wassenar Arrangement, the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), the Nuclear Supplier’s group (NSG), the Australia Group and the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).
Those regimes and treaties are the result of all-encompassing engineering backgrounds, from materials to propulsion, aerospace, electronics, computers etc.; in fact, the high-tech nature of military/dual-use goods and technologies is a crucial sector which must be guided taking into account simultaneously security objectives, innovation, strategic and industrial Competitiveness. The course aims at providing scientific-technical insights underlying the items and technologies reported in the Law and Regulation, with the goal of improving the Italian, EU and international security, providing new cultural and scientific expertise and then new, highly skilled, job opportunities. In fact, experts may be employed in several realities like Universities, Institutions (i.e. Intelligence, Ministries, Offices), International Organizations (i.e. IAEA, UNDESA, UNODA, etc.) and Companies, which would have “in-house” “Arms and/or Dual Use-experts”, in order to improve the national and international security.