Three
basic steps of the verification process:
I. Gathering
data
II.
Interpreting data
III.
Disseminating data
Data collection must be restricted
to material specified in
agreement
Common methods of gathering data:
General
on-site inspection: unlimited access to materials and facilities
Selective
on-site inspection: limited access to materials and facilities
Challenge
on-site inspection: surprise inspection that the inspected party may or
may not be allowed to refuse
Control
posts: team setups at strategic locations
Remote
sensing in situ: stations with only measuring instruments, no personnel
Collateral
analysis: investigation from a third party1
National
technical means (NTM): One state verifies that another state is complying
without entering the other staties territory. Technical means
include seismic detectors, nuclear radiation detectors, radio waves, radar,
and visible infrared light.
Monitoring,
Cooperative Measures: While NTMs do not need participation of the party
being investigated, cooperative measures require the participation of the
parties.They include data exchanges
and notifications, counting rules, agreed procedures, on-site inspections,
and observer exchanges.
Each party must have the technical means to interpret the data.
In the United States, there are several organizations that analyze the
data:
National
Reconnaissance Office- satellite reconnaissance
National
Security Agency- communications, signals, and electronic intelligence
Air
Force Technical Appllications Center- seismic and airborne nuclear radiation
detection.
Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA), open sources (like media) and most human intelligence,
including spies.2
The release
of potentially compromising data to the international community is a strong
fear of nations in verification. On one hand, all nations should
know if another nation is violating a treaty and threatening the security
of its region. However, if the raw data is incorrectly interpreted
and a false statement of breech of treaty is released to the international
community, then the nation's reputation is ruined.The
recipient(s) of disseminated data is a matter of debate in transparency
treaties.3
1,3Lubensky, Steve.
"Verification of Transparency Treaties." University of Pennsylvania
Model United
Nations Conference. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania,
2000.
2Krass, Allan S. "Arms
Control Treaty Verification." Encyclopedia of Arms Control and
Disarmament.
Richard Dean Burns, Ed. Vol. 1. New York: Charles Scribner's
Sons,
1993.