---
_id: '57140'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: Emerging technologies around autonomous weapons systems pose significant threats,
    particularly to small states in the Global South. Despite these threats, many
    such small states have struggled to participate in multilateral discussions to
    regulate and prohibit autonomous weapons systems, while the negotiations have
    been ongoing within the Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons
    Systems (GGE on LAWS) under the United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional
    Weapons (UNCCW) since 2017. This paper analyses the dilemmic positions small state
    diplomats find themselves in when trying to devote time and expertise to international
    discussions on autonomous weapons systems while at the same time negotiating the
    power politics within the international law-making system and working with a limited
    expertise pool and resource base. The research is based on interviews with diplomats
    in Geneva, participation data collated by the UN, and virtual and in-person observation
    of the GGE on LAWS discussions in the UNCCW. The paper concludes that disarmament
    diplomats from small states from the Global South face various challenges, including
    small governments back home that cannot address emerging issues, great power politics,
    unequal international legal systems, and absent common positions on disarmament.
    Nevertheless, these same small states have dealt with such challenges, so as to
    decolonise the asymmetric diplomatic space within which they operate.
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Ishmael
  full_name: Bhila, Ishmael
  id: '105772'
  last_name: Bhila
citation:
  ama: 'Bhila I. Strained Missions: the diplomatic dilemmas of small states from the
    Global South in the area of autonomous weapons systems. <i>Small States &#38;
    Territories</i>. 2024;7(2):203-220.'
  apa: 'Bhila, I. (2024). Strained Missions: the diplomatic dilemmas of small states
    from the Global South in the area of autonomous weapons systems. <i>Small States
    &#38; Territories</i>, <i>7</i>(2), 203–220.'
  bibtex: '@article{Bhila_2024, title={Strained Missions: the diplomatic dilemmas
    of small states from the Global South in the area of autonomous weapons systems},
    volume={7}, number={2}, journal={Small States &#38; Territories}, publisher={University
    of Malta. Islands and Small States Institute}, author={Bhila, Ishmael}, year={2024},
    pages={203–220} }'
  chicago: 'Bhila, Ishmael. “Strained Missions: The Diplomatic Dilemmas of Small States
    from the Global South in the Area of Autonomous Weapons Systems.” <i>Small States
    &#38; Territories</i> 7, no. 2 (2024): 203–20.'
  ieee: 'I. Bhila, “Strained Missions: the diplomatic dilemmas of small states from
    the Global South in the area of autonomous weapons systems,” <i>Small States &#38;
    Territories</i>, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 203–220, 2024.'
  mla: 'Bhila, Ishmael. “Strained Missions: The Diplomatic Dilemmas of Small States
    from the Global South in the Area of Autonomous Weapons Systems.” <i>Small States
    &#38; Territories</i>, vol. 7, no. 2, University of Malta. Islands and Small States
    Institute, 2024, pp. 203–20.'
  short: I. Bhila, Small States &#38; Territories 7 (2024) 203–220.
date_created: 2024-11-17T18:52:58Z
date_updated: 2024-11-26T09:46:00Z
ddc:
- '300'
file:
- access_level: open_access
  content_type: application/pdf
  creator: bhila
  date_created: 2024-11-17T18:52:29Z
  date_updated: 2024-11-17T18:52:29Z
  file_id: '57141'
  file_name: Strained_missions.pdf
  file_size: 627216
  relation: main_file
file_date_updated: 2024-11-17T18:52:29Z
has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: '         7'
issue: '2'
language:
- iso: eng
license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
  url: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/128741
oa: '1'
page: 203-220
publication: Small States & Territories
publication_identifier:
  issn:
  - 2616-8006
publication_status: published
publisher: University of Malta. Islands and Small States Institute
related_material:
  link:
  - relation: confirmation
    url: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/128741
status: public
title: 'Strained Missions: the diplomatic dilemmas of small states from the Global
  South in the area of autonomous weapons systems'
type: journal_article
user_id: '105772'
volume: 7
year: '2024'
...