History is Made: The United States and the Arms Trade Treaty
The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), adopted by the UN and signed by the U.S. in 2013, is the first treaty regulating the trade of conventional weapons. Prior to the ATT, there were more laws governing the international sale of bananas and iPods than grenade launchers and AK-47s, making it easy for weapons to fall into the hands of warlords, dictators and terrorists. U.S. leadership was crucial to passing the treaty, but powerful domestic opponents–the NRA and Heritage Foundation—saw it as a good fundraising tool and opportunity to flex their political muscles. We got involved in the ATT push in 2010 to counteract the influence of these special interests and mobilize faith, military, and values communities around the treaty.
Our work began by asking former child soldier turned peace activist and head of the Evangelical churches of South Sudan, Bishop Elias Taban, to issue a call to American Christians to support the ATT because of the strong mission ties between US evangelicals and Sudan. The 3,500 churches that responded to that call helped us build a unique coalition of faith, military, humanitarian, and security groups to combat misinformation about the treaty in the media and build positive momentum for it. In order to provide the Administration with the political cover it needed to push the ATT, we brought in major faith leaders and retired generals to meet with Senators and the Administration, ran op-eds, and organized church petitions through 2012 and helped reframe the debate as a question of siding with terrorists and dictators or our troops and missionaries. Then, as the treaty moved toward a possible vote in 2013, we launched a robust campaign including emails urging people to pledge to participate in a Day of Prayer, full-page print ads in Politico, op-eds, and a viral video targeting Christian voters and influential leaders in Washington.
Just after Easter, the UN brought the treaty up again and, with the US championing it, successfully adopted the ATT — a monumental victory. In the lag time before countries could sign the treaty, our viral video targeted the most vocal ATT opponents in the Senate who could prevent the U.S. from signing, and set the stage for our final showdown with the NRA, which was starting to feel the pressure from its members to change positions. We pushed the video out in geo-targeted emails to the Senators’ constituents, and it went viral with over 800K views, and after the pressure on the NRA and Heritage Foundation built up, the U.S. ultimately led a coalition of countries in signing the first treaty ever to regulate the international trade of conventional weapons, largely based on U.S. laws and regulations.
Our campaign received positive press in Christian and political media about the ATT, including coverage in The New York Times, Relevant Magazine, Christian Post, The Hill, NPR, Politico, and the Washington Post. Many top level officials in the White House and State Department’s lead negotiator credited our efforts with creating the political space to make the treaty possible. In recognition of his leadership and voice in our campaign, Bishop Taban was awarded the Clinton Global Initiative’s 2013 Global Citizen Award.
At the Closing Session of the 2013 CGI Annual Meeting, Secretary Clinton and Bishop Elias Taban discuss Taban's life journey and how he has mobilized many in South Sudan and Uganda in the wake of tragedy.