Arms Control

Arms control:
One way of dealing with proliferation of weapons is through negotiated arms control agreements.
*arms control is different from disarmament
*its goal is not to construct a new world order, but to manage existing one
different strategies 
*limiting the number and kinds of weapons that can legally be used in war
*limiting the potential for destruction after war has broken out by reducing the size of arsenals
*reducing overall weapons 
*banning technologies which may have a destabilising effect on the balance of powe
*developing confidence building measures 

Some famous agreements 
*1925 GENEVA PROTOCOL banning the use of gas and bacteriological weapons 
*1959 ANTARCTIC TREATY preventing states from using antarctica for military purposes
*1972 BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION banning the manufacture and possession of biological weapons 
*1968 nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) limiting the transfer of nuclear weapons and allied technologies to non-nuclear states
*1972 strategic arms limitation talks (SALT 1) controlling the development and use of anti-balistic missile systems 
*1993 chemical weapons convention (CWC) requiring that signatories destroy their chemical weapons stock within a decade 

Related terms: arms race, arms trade, deterrence, disarmament, mutually assured destruction, nuclear proliferation, security dilemma, weapons of mass destruction