Beyond arms control ? Searching for paradigm lost…

Partager sur :

September 11th represents a definite breaking point with the ancient order, and calls for a new analysis grid to interpret international relations. Thus, the concept of arms control, which was at its acme at the end of the Cold War, with the conclusion of numerous non-proliferation and disarmament international agreements, is now going through a veritable decay. This is due, first of all, to the fact that these treaties have been violated by some States, then that they are difficult to apply, and also to the evolution of the international strategic context. Within this context, the perspectives for arms control and disarmament, concerning nuclear weapons and the other categories, seem unpromising. The current phenomenon of senescence, abrogation de facto and avoidance of the existing juridical instruments threatens to be topped up by an increasingly frequent recourse to political declarations without a juridical value, and by verification and ratification mechanisms, which are thus reversible by nature. – Summary AFRI-2002