The Arms Race Revisited
April 1997

April Article Abstracts

Title: Arms Control: The Unfinished Agenda
Author: Jack Mendelsohn
"The easing of the cold war confrontation and the unleashing of the forces of reform in the former Soviet empire led to a welcome increase in the tempo of arms control between 1986 and 1996. A great deal of unfinished business remains, however, and there are indications that the momentum of the last 10 years may be slowing as arms control falls victim to a combination of inattention, questionable policies, and its own success."

Title: The Causes of Nuclear Proliferation
Author: Scott D. Sagan
"The history of weapons decisions suggests that nuclear proliferation (and conversely, nuclear restraint) has occurred in the past, and can occur in the future, for more than one reason. . . [T]his means that no single policy is likely to be sufficient to ameliorate all future proliferation problems, and that actions that help address one proliferation danger might well exacerbate another."

Title: The Ballistic Missile Defense Debate
Author: John Pike
"National missile defense remains an unworkable solution to a problem that does not exist. And every moment devoted to the missile defense debate is a moment stolen from addressing real solutions to real problems facing America and the world today."

Title: Playing Politics with the Chemical Weapons Convention
Author: Amy E. Smithson
"Unless the Senate ratifies the Chemical Weapons Convention before it enters into force at the end of April, Washington will have abandoned a sturdy ship of its own making. . . America's elected officials have the opportunity to rectify their undistinguished track record in addressing the problem of chemical weapons proliferation."

Title: The Biological Weapons Threat
Author: Jonathan B. Tucker
"After decades of neglect and complacency, the proliferation of biological weapons is finally receiving the attention it deserves. Whether the international community can summon the political will to buttress the [biological weapons convention] with effective compliance-monitoring and enforcement measures will have a significant impact on the future spread-and potential military use-of these abhorrent weapons."

Title: The New Arms Race: Light Weapons and International Security
Author: Michael T. Klare
"Because of the global upsurge in ethnic and sectarian conflict, policymakers have become more attuned to the role played by [light] arms in sparking and sustaining low-level warfare and have begun to consider new constraints on trade in these munitions. . . Although heavy weapons sometimes play a role, most of the day-to-day fighting is performed by irregular forces armed only with rifles, grenades, machine guns, light mortars, and other 'man-portable' munitions."

Title: The Political Economy of Conventional Arms Proliferation
Author: William W. Keller
"Did the West defeat Soviet communism only to make the world safe for American and European weapons? Is this the meaning of the end of the cold war? Or does the removal of a potent adversary also imply the need to change policy, to delimit commerce in modern weapons and military technology in the interest of world peace and stability?"
 
Title: Racing Toward the Future:The Revolution in Military Affairs
Author: Steven Metz
"Decisions made in Washington in the coming years will determine whether the revolution in military affairs stokes future arms races and proliferation problems. . . So far the American approach, while a logical response to vexing strategic problems, has not been shaped by concern for long-term political implications."