arms control as an element of international politics

Underlying the concept of disarmament is the notion that the partial or complete elimination of existing or planned arms and armed forces, unilaterally or by treaty, will bring security and peace. Serious doubts have been raised about this optimistic idea. It is impossible for a disarmament treaty to encompass the extremely wide range of military capabilities, the counterargument runs, and monitoring compliance is very difficult. The disarmament process carries an inherent risk of instability, and a disarmed world would not necessarily be a peaceful world. Morover, states' insistence on their sovereignty makes it unlikely that measures restricting their control of their military options - including the decision between war and peace - could be achieved.

It was criticisms like these, in conjunction with attempts to prevent surprise attacks, that gave rise to the concept of arms control. Arms control is based on the assumption that peace can be safeguarded not by eliminating arms but by controlling them in the interests of stability. Control in this sense means not just ensuring the maintenance of certain previously agreed arrangements but rather dynamically influencing the whole armament process and military and security policy. This approach may well favor disarmament concepts, but it may equally well recommend the acquisition or upgrading of arms - for example, the development of a credible second-strike capability to deter potential surprise attacks.