Arms Control in the 21st Century: Between Coercion and Cooperation

This volume evaluates the impact of coercive arms control efforts to curb the spread of weapons of mass destruction in the twenty-first century.

A new paradigm in arms control is gradually replacing the idea that mutually agreed restrictions on armaments can improve international security. Thus, Hedley Bull’s classic definition of arms control as the "cooperation between antagonistic pairs of states in military affairs" needs to be amended by a new notion of coercive arms control as the set of non-cooperative and non-reciprocal measures to restrict the weapons or military capabilities of certain states.

This volume addresses the topic of how this ongoing paradigmatic shift will affect the effectiveness of arms control as a conflict management instrument.While some argue that new instruments can complement and strengthen traditional, multilateral and inclusive arms control regimes, others maintain that conflicts and contradictions between coercive and cooperative arms control regimes will severely limit their effectiveness. This volume provides a forum for academics and practitioners from around the globe to discuss these developments in depth and to assess the specific strengths and weaknesses of these new instruments of arms control.

This book will be of much interest to students of arms control, global governance, foreign policy and IR/Security Studies in general.

Oliver Meier is a senior researcher with the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg, and the International Representative and Correspondent of the US Arms Control Association.

Christopher Daase is Professor for International Organization at the University of Frankfurt.