Arms Control: The Retreat From Disarmament The Record to Date and the Search for Alternatives

Marek Thee
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Marek Thee: International Peace Research Institute, Oslo

Journal of Peace Research, 1977, vol. 14, issue 2, 95-114

Abstract: The main thesis in this paper is that arms control as implemented in recent years and reflected in a number of multilateral and bilateral US-Soviet accords has not halted the arms race, but rather impelled its course. An effort must be made to change direction and initiate the process of real disarmament.Arms control has meant a retreat from disarmament. It has come to symbolize a practice of building security not on less but on more arms. Deterrence has become the main theme of arms control, and has meant the establishment of a threat system which requires a constant augmentation of armaments, so as to enhance the retaliatory power of the adversary.The paper analyses the flaws and drawbacks of arms control and reviews the achieve ments and failures of the arms control agreements. It then discusses the armaments dyna mics and prospects of disarmament. Two basic mainstays of armaments dynamics today lie in the domain of politics and technology. To undercut armaments dynamics the modus operandi in these two fields must be changed. In the political domain, a most important precondition for change is greater openness in questions of security. One promising strategy to follow would be unilateral reciprocated initiatives to gradually reduce arma ments. In the field of technology, military research and development must be brought under control.Disarmament can only come through a radical departure from dominant arms control concepts. There is a need to return to the idea of general and complete disarmament.

Date: 1977
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