Various forms of "arms control" and "disarmament"-- the products of evolving taboos, imposed terms, and negotiated accords-- have been employed among preliterate societies, during ancient and medieval times and between modern nation-states. These techniques took on greater significance when the stability of the modern world was shaken at the dawn of the twentieth century by the introduction of rapid-fire weapons, aircraft, chemical agents, and submarines, and at mid-century by the advent of weapons of mass destruction-- nuclear and chemical/bacteriological-- and sophisticated delivery systems. The enormous increase in destructive potential brought about by thermo-nuclear weaponry changed the nature of war and, therefore, arms control. This book is designed to provide an introduction to various features of arms control systems and, at the same time, to broaden one's view of their characteristics.

Originally published: Santa Barbara, CA : Praeger, 2009.

Introduction -- Means and techniques : a historical typology -- Arms limitations and/or reductions -- Demilitarization, denuclearization, and neutralization -- Regulating use/outlawing weapons and war -- Regulating arms manufacture, trade, and traffic -- Customs and the law of war -- Stabilizing the international environment -- Comments on arms control processes negotiations, verification, and compliance -- Arms control negotiations -- The verification process -- Compliance and noncompliance -- Reflections : on nuclear weaponry : the Cold War and after.