Disarmament and Arms Control

Meaning and concept

Major arms control agreements
Disarmament and the UN
Problems of disarmament

Introduction
National security tops the list of ‘national interest’ of each
state.
National security is unthinkable without military preparedness
and arms production.
Military preparedness of one automatically results in active
military build-up of the other
This results in an arms race with all the states indulging in
massive arms build-up
Not only destabilizes international peace and security but
also makes war inevitable
The possession of nukes, huge stockpile of Weapons of Mass
Destruction (WMDs) and chemical and biological weapons
makes matters worse and threatens the very existence of
humanity and world peace.
Efforts need to be made to reduce the possibilities of war
and increase the chances of international peace and
security
through disarmament and arms control.

MEANING AND CONCEPT

Disarmament means the elimination or reduction of
armaments to preserve international peace and security by
averting wars.
According to Morgenthau
“Disarmament is the reduction or elimination of certain
or all armaments for the purpose of ending the armament
race”.
According to experts on disarmament and arms
control like Charles P. Schleicher
Disarmament “means of reducing or eliminating the
material and human instrumentalities for the exercise of
physical violence”
According to an authority in international politics, like V.V.
Dyke * ,
“Any regulation or limitation having to do with armed
power is treated as a measure of Disarmament”
Couloumbis and Wolfe ,
While showing the difference between disarmament and arms
control, opine:
“In its absolute sense disarmament requires the global
destruction of weapons and the disestablishment of all armed
forces”
Disarmament for them is quite inclusive and can mean
anything from outlawing of all military arsenals and
establishments to the banning of particular weapons in
the interest of ‘humanization’ of war and even the
implementation of specific agreements designed to prevent
the accidental outbreak of war.

The concept of arms control has crept in and has gained

currency

Couloumbis and Wolfe point out that,

As chances of total disarmament become so
minimal, its advocates are often regarded as utopians or
propagandists and arms control becomes more relevant in the
literature of international relations.
Arms control is a generic term and it normally includes two
categories:
Arms reduction and arms limitation.

Arms reduction stands for

Partial disarmament and it implies a mutually
agreed-upon set of arms levels for the nation-states involved.
The arms reduction formula may apply either to all states
worldwide or to a small number of states on a regional basis.

Arms limitation
The wide variety of international accords designed to
limit the impact of war and to prevent the accidental outbreak
of war.
Under arms limitations there can be infinite measures such as
The installation of fail–safe devices designed to detonate
nuclear missiles in midair,
Should they be fired accidentally,
Hot lines to keep the key decision-makers in constant
contact during crises,
Moratoriums on specific types of nuclear testing and
Agreements between two or more countries restricting the
sale of arms and the transfer of nuclear technology

According to Schleicher,
Arms control is used to “include any kind of
cooperation with respect to armament which could curtail the
arms race, reduce the probability of war, or limit its scope and
violence”