Efforts to control small arms and light weapons (SALW) in the periods following violent conflict can have positive or negative impacts on peacebuilding efforts. Similarly, peacebuilding activities can both support or endanger efforts to place SALW under greater control. Despite the regular occurrence of SALW control and peacebuilding activities in the same time and space in post violent conflict contexts, there is insignificant analysis of how the two sets of activities interrelate, and how these interelationships can be strengthened to improve the contribution that SALW control efforts make to peacebuilding, and vice-versa. The effects of interrelationships over time (contingency); in the same geographic space (complementarity) and the effects of public perceptions and social construction are particularly important and provide a framework for establishing these interrelationships through analysing a wide universe of cases of SALW control attempted in countries emerging from violent conflict, five mini-cases studies and a major analysis of interrelationships in Kosovo.

Yes / Professor Paul Rogers gives a brief overview of the present status of international legal prohibitions against both nuclear and chemical weapons. He then goes on to discuss the need to strengthen the 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.

No / This article undertakes a critical analysis of what have been labelled humanitarian arms control (HAC) initiatives, most notably, recent agreements to ban cluster munitions and landmines as well as efforts to restrict the proliferation of small arms. The article critiques conventional accounts that view such initiatives as illustrating the potential of global civil society to interject human security concerns into the domain of arms regulation through the exercise of bottom-up power. In order to do this, the article first outlines the concept of securitization, particularly Floyd's discussion of positive and negative forms of securitization and Abrahamson's concept of the security continuum. This is used to frame an analysis of contemporary HAC initiatives that locates them in the much longer history of pariah weapons regulation and the way it relates both to the framing of legitimized weapons and changes in the broader regulation of the conventional defence trade in different eras. In contrast to conventional accounts of the HAC agenda, it is argued that initiatives such as those on landmines and cluster munitions were successful precisely because they were consonant with the same discourse used to legitimize both post-Cold War liberal interventionism and the new generation modern high-tech weapons. Moreover, the extra-securitization of landmines, cluster munitions and small arms has been accompanied by the (relative) desecuritization of the trade in major conventional weapons and associated dual-use technologies, a process that has a number of quite negative effects in terms of arms trade regulation. The article concludes by reflecting on the implications of the preceding analysis both for thinking about processes of securitization and for arms trade non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

No / The threat of biological weapons has never attracted as much public attention as in the past five years. Current concerns largely relate to the threat of weapons acquisition and use by rogue states or by terrorists. But the threat has deeper roots--it has been evident for fifty years that biological agents could be used to cause mass casualties and large-scale economic damage. Yet there has been little historical analysis of such weapons over the past half-century. Deadly Cultures sets out to fill this gap by analyzing the historical developments since 1945 and addressing three central issues: Why have states continued or begun programs for acquiring biological weapons? Why have states terminated biological weapons programs? How have states demonstrated that they have truly terminated their biological weapons programs? We now live in a world in which the basic knowledge needed to develop biological weapons is more widely available than ever before. Deadly Cultures provides the lessons from history that we urgently need in order to strengthen the long-standing prohibition of biological weapons.

No / The military dimension of the Cold War was characterised by the strategic nuclear stand-off between the United States and the Soviet Union as well as the large-scale regional military confrontation in Central Europe. As part of the process of East-West détente there was an effort to address the risks of war in Europe by means of an arms control process referred to as MBFR (Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions). The true purposes and intentions of both sides (NATO and the Warsaw Pact) in these negotiations has so far not been fully understood. This book is based on path-breaking archival research that clarifies the objectives and tactics of the parties to the negotiations and the reasons for why the negotiations ended without an agreement. It makes a major new contribution to the understanding of Cold War History.

Thesis (MA (Political Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis aims to ascertain the level of success which civil society and state actors have had in dealing with issues of arms control and disarmament in the SADC region during the post- Cold War era. The main research question shall be divided into two key questions, the first being: How successful have states been in managing arms control and disarmament in the SADC region? The second question being: How successful has civil society been in managing arms control and disarmament in the SADC region? The study is therefore an evaluative study and shall be focused on the case study of Mozambique. Two arms control processes shall be evaluated in this regard. First is the “Transforming weapons into Ploughshares” or TAE project which is a civil society campaign aimed at minimizing the harsh impacts that Small Arms and Light Weapons have on Mozambican society. The demarcated time period for this project shall be 1995-2003. Second is state driven operation between South African and Mozambican police aimed at locating and destroying arms caches responsible for fuelling the illicit trade in light arms between the two countries. This project was known as Operation Rachel and shall be evaluated from the period of 1995-2001. Through evaluating these two projects, the study shall seek to make the point that in terms of arms control in post-conflict developing states, there is a role for both state and civil societies. The role of civil society organizations can be seen as one of identifying security threats, raising public awareness and democratizing security issues such as arms control so that society at large becomes active in negating the problem. The role of the state on the other hand is to live up to its duties as the chief provider of security for the designated population within the state’s territorial boundary. Arms control in Mozambique and in the SADC region in general has been mediocre at best since as shall be demonstrated, states are far too weak to offer any meaningful protection to citizens and secondly civil society organizations which have taken it upon themselves to offer this kind of protection are just not well resourced enough to undertake state responsibilities. Thus the key recommendation of this study is that Southern African states invariably need to build up their capacities. Light weapons have spread uncontrollably throughout the region because weak and fractured states could not contain the problem and continue struggling to manage a multitude of security threats. It is therefore up to civil society organizations to build strong societies which can demand stronger state action. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis se doel is om vas te stel tot watter mate die burgerlike samelewing en Staat akteurs sukses behaal het in terme van wapenbeheer en ontwapening in die Suider-Afrikaanse Ontwikkelings Gemeenskap (SAOG) streek na die koue oorlog. Die hoof navorsings vraag sal in twee kern vrae verdeel word, Die eerste vraag is: Hoeveel sukses het die burgerlike samelewing in die SAOG streek gehad met die bestuur van wapenbeheer en ontwapening? Die tweede vraag is: hoeveel sukses het Staat akteurs in die SAOG streek gehad met die bestuur van wapenbeheer en ontwapening? Hierdie studie is dus ʼn evaluerende studie en sal op Mosambiek fokus as gevalle-studie. Twee wapenbeheer prosesse sal in hierdie tesis evalueer word. Eerste, is die “Transforming Weapons into Ploughshares” of “TAE” projek wat ʼn burgerlike samelewings veldtog is, wat hom ten doel gestel het om die negatiewe impak van ligte-wapens op Mosambiekse samelewing te verminder. Die afgebakende tydperk vir hierdie studie sal 1995-2003 wees. Die tweede proses is die staat-gedrewe operasie tussen die Suid-Afrikaanse en Mosambiekse polisie. Die doel van hierdie projek was om die wapen-opslagplekke wat verantwoordelik is vir die onwettige handel in wapens tussen die twee lande te identifiseer en dienooreenkomstig te verwoes. Hierdie was bekend as “Operation Rachel” en sal tussen 1995-2001 evalueer word. Duur die evaluering van hierdie twee projekte sal die studie probeer om die punt te maak dat daar ʼn rol is vir beide die burgerlike samelewing en die staat in terme van wapenbeheer in post-konflik, ontwikkelende lande. Die rol van burgerlike samelewing organisasies kan beskou word as die identifisering van bedreigings wat veiligheid en sekuriteit kan raak, om bewustheid te kweek en die demokratisering van veiligheid en sekuriteit kwessies soos wapenbeheer. Die rol van die staat is om hulle plig te vervul as die ‘hoof verskaffer’ van sekuriteit vir die bevolking binne die staat se territoriale grense. Wapenbeheer in Mosambiek en in die SAOG streek in die algemeen was totdusver minder suksesvol gewees, aangesien state heeltemal te swak is om enige betekenisvolle beskerming aan hulle burgers te verleen. Tweedens, het burgerlike samelewings organisasies wat die verantwoordelikheid aangeneem het om beskerming te verleen net nie genoeg hulpbronne om die staat se verantwoordelikhede te vervul nie. Dus, is die kern aanbeveling van hierdie tesis dat Suider-Afrikaanse state hulle bekwaamheid en kapasiteit sal moet versterk. Ligte wapens het onbeheersd dwarsdeur die streek versprei omdat swak state nie oor die kapasiteit beskik om veelvuldige veiligheids en sekuriteits-bedreigings te kan hanteer nie. Dit hang dus van burgerlike samelewingsv organisasies af om sterk samelewings te bou wat op hul beurt kan aandring op sterker staatsoptrede om hierdie kwessies meer daadwerklik aan te spreek.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. / The Persian Gulf region is, in all likelihood, going to remain crucial to American interests through the next several decades. The world depends on the petroleum reserves of the Gulf region to fuel its economic engine. The recent history of the region has been rife with conflict, and the U.S. has had to intervene militarily on several occasions to ensure its vital interests were protected. This thesis examines the strategic circumstances in the Gulf region and ways in which American political, diplomatic, and military policy can help shape the environment to conform to its interests. Several scenarios are developed which attempt to forecast the results of different environments on regional stability. The thesis reaches the conclusion that the United States must take a proactive role if its short- and long-term interests are to be protected. The short-term goal of U.S. policy must be to maintain a balance of power and regional correlation of forces which serves to deter any would-be aggressor nations. In the long run, the United States must seek a comprehensive regional peace. Various methods of achieving these goals are examined. / http://archive.org/details/strategicplanfor00ward / Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy

Cette thèse analyse les raisons qui ont poussé le Japon à se retirer en 1936 du système de contrôle des armements navals établis en 1922. La littérature sur le sujet est particulièrement pauvre pour ce qui est de la science politique et ne parvient pas à systématiser les différentes variables afin de mieux comprendre l’extrême complexité du processus de décision japonais. Appréhender ce processus permet d'aborder une problématique plus générale, qui est de comprendre pourquoi les états mettent fin à des relations de nature coopérative, préférant poursuivre une politique de sécurité unilatérale malgré les coûts que cela peut engendrer. Le modèle théorique de cette thèse propose l’hypothèse suivante: certains changements dans le système international affectent l'influence relative des différentes institutions domestiques prenant part à la formulation des politiques étrangères. En cas de tensions internationales, l'expertise des forces armées prend de l’importance pour la formulation des politiques étrangères. Dans un tel scénario, il est probable que le pays se retire de l'accord de contrôle des armements si ses forces armées s’opposent au maintien de cet accord. Les forces armées désavouent l'accord si ce dernier est intrusif dans des domaines relevant de l'expertise de l’institution militaire au point de menacer sa capacité à répondre à une nouvelle menace extérieure. Le degré d'influence des forces armées et l'intensité du conflit entre militaires et civils pour ce qui concerne la politique de défense nationale constituent les deux variables qui déterminent la propension d'un état à privilégier une approche unilatérale de sa politique étrangère en matière de sécurité. / This thesis aims at assessing the causes of Japan's decision to withdraw in 1936 from the so-called Washington system of naval arms control. The existing literature is weak in the field of political science and fails to efficiently systematize the different variables to understand the highly complex Japanese decision-making process. To better understand this process helps in addressing a more general question: Why do states choose to pursue an independent and unilateral foreign security policy instead of a cooperative approach, despite the cost a withdrawal may engender? This thesis' theoretical framework is based on the academic literature on civil-military relations, and proposes the following hypothesis: Changes in the international system affect the relative influence different domestic institutions have on the formulation of foreign policy. In case of emerging international tensions, the military’s expertise acquires new importance for the formulation of foreign policy. In such a scenario, the arms control agreement does not survive if the military establishment advocates against the maintenance of the agreement. The military establishment opposes the agreement if it is so intrusive into its traditional sphere of responsibility that it negatively affects its ability to deal with a worsening security environment. The level of influence the military establishment possesses over the formulation of foreign security policy and the intensity of conflict in civil-military relations are the two variables of the thesis, which account for a state's propensity to privilege a unilateral approach to its foreign security policy.

Efforts to control small arms and light weapons (SALW) in the periods following violent conflict can have positive or negative impacts on peacebuilding efforts. Similarly, peacebuilding activities can both support or endanger efforts to place SALW under greater control. Despite the regular occurrence of SALW control and peacebuilding activities in the same time and space in post violent conflict contexts, there is insignificant analysis of how the two sets of activities interrelate, and how these interelationships can be strengthened to improve the contribution that SALW control efforts make to peacebuilding, and vice-versa. The effects of interrelationships over time (contingency); in the same geographic space (complementarity) and the effects of public perceptions and social construction are particularly important and provide a framework for establishing these interrelationships through analysing a wide universe of cases of SALW control attempted in countries emerging from violent conflict, five mini-cases studies and a major analysis of interrelationships in Kosovo.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Tufts University, 2004. / Submitted to the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 271-290). Access restricted to members of the Tufts University community. Also available via the World Wide Web;