Basic Requirements of Arms Control

Abstract

The concept of ‘arms control’ includes any agreement among several powers to regulate some aspects of their military capability or potential. The arrangement may apply to the location, amount, readiness, or types of military forces, weapons, or facilities. Whatever their scope or terms, however, all plans for arms control have one common feature: they presuppose some form of co-operation or joint action among the several participants regarding their military programmes. Is such co-operation feasible between major powers whose national purposes are in basic conflict? Concretely, is there any basis for such arrangements between the U.S.S.R. and the United States? If so, what are the conditions and limits of reliable arms control?