Marc Finaud

Geneva Centre for Security Policy, Global Fellowship Initiative, Emeritus

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Marc Finaud is a former French diplomat who has been seconded to the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) between 2004 and 2013 and has then worked there until 2022 to train diplomats and military officers in arms control, international and human security, while conducting research in those fields. During his 36-year career as a diplomat (from 1977 to 2013), he served in several bilateral postings (in the Soviet Union, Poland, Israel, Australia) as well as in multilateral missions (to the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Conference on Disarmament, the United Nations). He holds master’s degrees in International Law and Political Science. He was also Senior Resident Fellow (WMD Programme) at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) between 2013 and 2015. He is now also a Swiss citizen and remains associated with GCSP as a Fellow. In addition, he works as a private consultant (www.finaudconsulting.com). List of publications and media appearances: www.gcsp.ch/marc-finauds-publication

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Arab Forum For Alternatives

None (Private)

Mürsel DOĞRUL

Turkish National Defense University (Milli Savunma Üniversitesi)

Intan Marzueani

The University of Sheffield

Sadia Mahmood Falki

Lahore College For Women University Lahore Pakistan

Azmi Bishara

Doha Institute: The Arab Center For Research and Policy Studies

Eleonora Ardemagni

Joelle M. Abi-Rached

Harvard University

Rocio Ferro-Adams (please cite if using this work at Research Capacity)

School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

Chidiogo Jennifer Ezeano

Melanie S Tanielian

University of Michigan

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Papers by Marc Finaud

COMPARING THE UKRAINE AND THE GAZA WARS: THE FORCE OF LAW AND THE LAW OF FORCE

"Comparing the Ukraine and Gaza Wars: The Force of Law and the Law of Force", 2024

As the French saying goes, "comparison is not reason", meaning that one shouldn't compare things ... more As the French saying goes, "comparison is not reason", meaning that one shouldn't compare things that are not comparable to avoid the risk of false equivalence. The conflicts in Ukraine and in Gaza that currently attract world attention (perhaps at the expense of other humanitarian crises in Yemen, Sudan, Syria, the DRC, Ethiopia, Haiti, Myanmar, Afghanistan, etc.) are evidently specific, resulting from different causes, and occurring either between states or between a state and a non-state actor. However, when scrutinized, a number of characteristics of these wars cannot escape the conclusion that many similarities exist between them: (1) the instrumentalization of history, (2) the dehumanization of the enemy, (3) gross violations of international law including collective punishment, (4) the asymmetry leading to massive civilian casualties (5) impact on regional and global security, and (6) failure of efforts to find just and lasting resolution. Disregarding these considerations and condemning one perpetrator while supporting the other can lead to the perception of double standards and deep divisions within the international community. These can affect its capacity to restore peace and security and prevent dangerous precedents.

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Confidence Building Measures in the Middle East

The American Political Science Review, 1995

gender exclusively with women. But a focus on gender as masculine or feminine obscures the system... more gender exclusively with women. But a focus on gender as masculine or feminine obscures the systemic and transformative implications of gender as an analytic category that shapes not only who we are and what we do but how we conceptualize and claim to know. The androcentrism of binary thought per se is never effectively exposed, much less contested. Neglecting gender as an analytic category, the volume fails to delink gender from ostensibly natural sex differences and, in effect, reproduces the dichotomy of sex, in particular, and the discourse of binary logic, in general. It leaves the power relations sustained by either/or (binary) thinking in place. In short, gender-as-differences so dominates the text that gender-as-power, empirically and conceptually, is rendered invisible. The text remains an important introductory contribution, but its construction of gender must be treated with caution.

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The Role of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Countries in Countering the Iranian Threats for Promoting Their Common Security in Maritime Domain: دور دول مجلس التعاون الخليجي في مواجهة التهديدات الإيرانية لتعزيز أمنها المشترك في المجال البحري

مجلة العلوم الإنسانية و الإجتماعية, Jun 28, 2021

Iran policies pose threats to the security of the Gulf. The Gulf region has witnessed a noticeabl... more Iran policies pose threats to the security of the Gulf. The Gulf region has witnessed a noticeable tension, as Iran attacked several civilian ships of the Gulf states in an undeclared manner. The GCC countries made major efforts and some joint responses to such threats to achieve maritime security in the Gulf. The current study aims to focus on the role of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in responding to the Iranian threats to maintain their common security in the Gulf maritime domain, which based on the Idea: Iran poses threats to the security in the Gulf, which is prompting the GCC countries for more cooperation and to respond decisively to these threats to maintain their common security in the Gulf maritime domain. This showed that there is an urgent need to strengthen the ties of the Gulf countries to each other, unite and alliance in order to create a military naval coalition which helps to balance power and threat with Iran and provides protection for Gulf waters from any Iranian threats in the maritime domain of the region.

Five Reasons Why the COVID-19 Crisis is Related to National Security and Arms Control*

Contributions To Conflict Management, Peace Economics and Development, Jul 10, 2023

Cooperative Security: A New Paradigm For A World Without Nuclear Weapons?

DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals), Nov 1, 2013

Reconciling national security and general and complete disarmament

Disarmament, Oct 5, 2016

As explained earlier in this volume, the concept of general and complete disarmament (GCD), which... more As explained earlier in this volume, the concept of general and complete disarmament (GCD), which crystalized during the cold war, is reflected in article VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). According to that key provision, all States parties are under the obligation “to pursue negotiations in good faith” not only on “effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament” but also “on a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control” and there is no conditionality whatsoever between the former and the latter.

11 11 Pakistan and South Asia ’ s Security Nexus : Scenarios for the Future

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United Nations Office and the World Academy of Art and Science and held at the United Nations Office in Geneva on

If there is a loose consensus on aiming at a world free of nuclear weapons in the future, there a... more If there is a loose consensus on aiming at a world free of nuclear weapons in the future, there are clear oppositions as to the timeframe as well as the means for achieving this goal. The approach to nuclear disarmament followed to date has only yielded limited success because it has been conceived in isolation from global and regional security environments and threat perceptions. A new paradigm should thus be sought in order to reconcile nuclear powers' security doctrines with global aspirations for a safer world, and ensure that nuclear powers derive their security less from others' insecurity but from mutually beneficial cooperative security. This should not become a pretext for preserving nuclear weapons for ever. It will on the contrary require parallel tracks addressing the initial motivations for acquiring nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction (WMD), in particular in the context of regional conflicts, as well as dealing with the current issues necessar...

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Confl ict Mediation in the Middle East Lessons from Egypt as a Mediator and Object of Mediation Margret Johannsen

In recent years, Egypt has achieved three mediation successes: the unity deal between Fatah and H... more In recent years, Egypt has achieved three mediation successes: the unity deal between Fatah and Hamas as well as the Gilat Shalit prisoner exchange in 2011 and the cease-fi re agreement between Hamas and Israel in November 2012. These mediation successes stand in stark contrast to the unsuccessful efforts by external actors from the Middle East and the international arena to mitigate the intra-Egyptian tensions in Summer 2013. This POLICY BRIEF approaches this puzzle by developing a framework for analyzing mediation efforts and assessing the conditions for success in the cases at hand. It argues that the mediation successes analyzed gave Egypt greater diplomatic clout in interactions with regional and international actors. Yet the failed mediation efforts following the crisis of July 2013 and the resulting political, economic, and social instability of the most populous Arab country have rather developed into another stumbling block on the way to the Helsinki Conference on the estab...

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Multilateralism and transnational security : a synthesis of win-win solutions

In the globalised world of today, states face increasingly complex and transnational threats, whi... more In the globalised world of today, states face increasingly complex and transnational threats, which include, among other things, terrorism, international migration, weapons proliferation, poverty and human rights violations. This book maintains that the most effective responses to such threats are multilateral ones -- an argument that is supported by an exploration of the various multilateral organisations and instruments of security. The theoretical foundations for this book are set out in The Five Dimensions of Global Security: Proposal for a Multi-sum Security Principle (2007), and Symbiotic Realism: A Theory of International Relations in an Instant and an Interdependent World (2007). The former proposes five dimensions of global security (human, environmental, national, transnational and transcultural) that depend on good governance and justice. The latter proposes a new theory of international relations that addresses the instant and interdependent nature of our globalised worl...

Reconciling national security and general and complete disarmament

The Israeli Social Movement : A chance for peace?

&amp;amp;amp;quot;Never has the domino theory been so fascinating to observe in action. Initi... more &amp;amp;amp;quot;Never has the domino theory been so fascinating to observe in action. Initiated in Tunisia at the end of 2010, the movement that shook the Arab world spread to Egypt then to Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, and Syria. The peoples rid Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya of their dictators, and even where they still suffer violent suppression, a point of no-return has been reached. The Palestinians, for their part, did not so much rebel against their leaders from Fatah or Hamas, although they had good reasons for doing so, but they rallied behind the claim for an independent state. As for Israel, it looked at those developments with mixed feelings of fear and scepticism. It may have to face losing the Egyptian government as a strong ally, regional instability, or takeover by hostile Islamist radicals. Its worst nightmare would be that support from western countries to the Arab revolutions deepen its isolation. But Israel was not spared either by the wind of change blowing on North Africa and the Middle East. Its population did not revolt to overthrow its political system. Israel still rightly considers itself as the only democracy in the region. Some even call it “hyperdemocracy” or democrazy. Indeed, its parliamentary regime based on full proportional representation allows any sector or lobby to be voted in the Knesset. Thus such a group having joined the government coalition, even as ultra-minority, is in a position to threaten the cabinet of causing its overthrow if its demands are not met. This is how the West Bank and East Jerusalem settlers lobby, hardly representing half a million people, but supported by a handful of members of Parliament, determine the policy of a country of 7.7 million. This system dates back to the establishment of the State in 1948. It corresponds to the great diversity of Israeli society, a fact often overlooked in the West and in the Arab world, content with a more homogeneous image. What did the Israeli “Indignated” then rebel against? Mainly against growing poverty and cost of living, especially for housing, as well as social exclusion resulting from a neoliberal policy to which Benyamin Netanyahu attached his name as Prime Minister (1996-1999 and since 2009) but above all as Finance Minister (2002-2005). That policy consisted in gradually substituting the welfare state put into place by the Labour governments with an oligarchy dominated by large conglomerates owned by tycoons or big families. For instance, the Super- Sol group now has 40 percent of market share in retail trade, and it can decide alone on retail prices. The Tnuva dairy company holds 52 percent of the market. Finance is in the hands of five main banks agreeing to maintain high service fees and interest rates. Movements of boycott against those companies, supported by street demonstrations launched on Facebook and occupation of public places by hundreds of thousands of Israelis, forced them to yield to the pressure. The Prime Minister had to promise the construction of 40,000 new affordable housing units. The committee that he appointed under the chairmanship of economist Manuel Trachtenberg recommended a set of measures, among others on competition, taxation, free preschool education, the price of basic goods, and public transport for young people. Some of those measures in fact go even farther in the dismantlement of the welfare state: wage cuts and restrictions on trade unions in the state monopolies (power and water distribution, railways, ports, etc.). Moreover, in order to alleviate the burden of social spending, employment of the ultrareligious Israelis who now live on state allowances will be encouraged. In order to fund this programme, the committee proposed cuts in the sacrosanct defence budget, which reaches 16.3 billion euros (i.e. 15 percent of the state budget and 6.3 percent of GDP). But, due to resistance from the military lobby, Netanyahu limited that cut to 0.5 billion euros. One&amp;amp;amp;quot;

The Experience of Nuclear Weapon-Free Zones

This report examines nuclear weapon-free zones and the lessons-learned that could be applied to t... more This report examines nuclear weapon-free zones and the lessons-learned that could be applied to the issue of tactical nuclear weapons currently based in Europe. The report was originally a background paper for the SWP-BASIC workshop on: “Non-Strategic Nuclear Weapons in Europe: Transparency and Confidence-Building Measures in Practice”, Berlin 27-28 March 2014.

A Nuclear Iran: Avoiding a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

The rising tensions over the Iranian nuclear programme and the threat of military intervention ag... more The rising tensions over the Iranian nuclear programme and the threat of military intervention against Tehran carry serious risks of regional and global conflagration while having the potential only of delaying marginally that programme. If it is true that letting Iran manufacture nuclear weapons would also have grave consequences, in particular in terms of further proliferation, the toughening of sanctions and the military option may only offer the Iranian regime the pretext for going precisely into that direction.

The Conference for a Middle East Weapons of Mass Destruction Free Zone A Synopsis of Engagement of International and Regional Organisations, and Civil Society

This edited volume contains contributions on the governmental, intergovernmental and non-governme... more

Pakistan and South Asia's Security Nexus: Scenarios for the Future

Pakistan’s current security situation is challenging on numerous fronts – political, economic and... more Pakistan’s current security situation is challenging on numerous fronts – political, economic and social – and will require the implementation of comprehensive and integrated solutions. Further social and economic development remains the key solution to alleviate most of Pakistan’s current security challenges, which are complicated by the exploitation of poor people by the Taliban. As long as some part of the population remains mired in extreme poverty, without adequate access to education and economic opportunities, the socialising effects of radical Islam will continue to have an impact. Pakistan’s internal situation is inextricably affected by a number of external factors. It is therefore unfair to assume that the country can handle its current domestic security situation alone. It is in the interest of all nations involved in the conflict in Afghanistan as well as all other South Asian states to support a strong Pakistan that can effectively counter the threat of global terrorism.

A Treaty to Regulate Arms Transfers: Challenges and Opportunities

The 2012 Diplomatic Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty offers a historic opportunity to achieve ... more

The Middle East without Weapons of Mass Destruction: How to Meet the Challenge?

The Role of Parliaments in Arms Control, Disarmament and the Non-proliferation of WMD

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Is there a way out?

Australian Journal of International Affairs, 2003

The blame for the inability to put an end to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians mus... more The blame for the inability to put an end to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians must be shared by all parties. In Israel, Ehud Barak's attempts were courageous but he never established trust with the Palestinians. The policy of the Sharon government, based only on response to violence by force, also failed. Although he did not mastermind the Second Intifada, Arafat's attitude towards the Palestinian militant armed groups was always ambiguous and he lost any credit even among the Israeli peace camp. The Arab countries never gave more than a formal support to the Palestinians and abstained from arguing in favour of coexistence with the Israelis. The Americans, with Clinton, seriously tried their best but lacked some long-term perspective and, with George W. Bush, aligned themselves with the most radical Israeli position. Europe did support the Palestinian economy but was too divided to influence dramatically the negotiations and did not invest enough into peace-building among the peoples of the region. The only way out of the quagmire is to follow the roadmap established by the international community, represented by the 'Quartet' (the UN, the USA, Russia and the European Union) for an end both to terrorism and occupation, and towards negotiations on the establishment of a democratic and viable Palestinian State.

COMPARING THE UKRAINE AND THE GAZA WARS: THE FORCE OF LAW AND THE LAW OF FORCE

"Comparing the Ukraine and Gaza Wars: The Force of Law and the Law of Force", 2024

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Confidence Building Measures in the Middle East

The American Political Science Review, 1995

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مجلة العلوم الإنسانية و الإجتماعية, Jun 28, 2021