Disarmament affairs are more of a marathon than a sprint, and each year towards the end of October, the UN General Assembly’s First Committee meets to discuss the issue of ridding the world of weapons. 

This year, in an interview with UN News, in-house disarmament guru Michael Spies (UNODA) spelled out the dangerous effect in play of rising “international tensions between the United States and Russia”. 

The policy analyst noted the current strain on bilateral arms control between the two counties, pointing to the 1987 Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty, known as the INF, which the US is threatening to withdraw from. Mr. Spies spoke to Liz Scaffidi about the year ahead on disarmament at the UN.