Description:
There have been many occasions since the inception of the United Nations when it has been found useful to establish nonmilitary areas. A nonmilitary area is one from which all potential combatants, weapons, military equipment, and military installations are excluded and from which no hostile acts or activities in support of or related to the conduct of military operations may be undertaken. In addition to being of historical interest, demilitarization is again being implemented in Sinai and will almost certainly be resorted to in Namibia and other places in the future. Demilitarization thus gives rise to important questions: By whom may such zones be established? What purposes are they intended to serve? What are the implications for state sovereignty? Do such zones have any status for states not parties to the agreements establishing them or for the United Nations and its agencies? And how effective has the supervisory system been?