Dual-Use Export Control: Security and Human Rights Challenges to Multilateralism

Abstract

International standard-setting in the field of export control has been shaped by the presence of non-binding multilateral regimes. Central to international regulatory harmonisation is the Wassenaar Arrangement concerning export controls for conventional arms as well as for dual-use goods and technologies. Institutionalised regulatory coordination through multilateral regimes is essential, in part because the multilateral trade regime accommodates apologetic security exceptions that flexibly allow each member’s own export control practices. Multilateralism in the context of dual-use export control has been subject to various political and normative challenges, however. Numerous attempts to circumvent the Wassenaar Arrangement have been based not only on national security narratives. The multilateral regime has also been fundamentally challenged by human rights narratives. This paper sheds light on these dual challenges through the analysis of export controls over digital and so-called emerging technologies.