Abstract
Arms control regime has witnessed severe setbacks in recent years. This
paper addresses the question that despite acknowledged benefits of arms
control for peace and stability, the major powers are currently turning
against arms control. By analyzing the reasons behind ongoing arms
control crisis, the paper takes into account contending perspectives of
major powers to map the emerging trends in arms control. The mere
existence of nuclear weapons does not encourage the states to adopt
restraint measures, rather it is their perception about the risks and
challenges to their security that compel them to go for arms control. The
ongoing geo-political competition, also exhibited in the form of strategic
rivalries at global level, and advanced military-technological
developments sans any consensus on mutual vulnerabilities shape the
understanding of nuclear armed states for strategic stability. These are
the two primary drivers behind the evolving arms control crisis. Recently,
United States has veered away from its bilateral commitments that
signifies the collapse of arms control arrangements between Washington
and Moscow which originally served as a stabilizing factor in their
adversarial relations. Prevailing disagreements on the constituents of
strategic stability, concerns about other state’s compliance and
transparency, and accentuating differences in military capabilities are the
defining features of how major states currently pursue arms control. In
the absence of consensus on what threatens strategic stability among
adversaries, any prospects for new arms control measures remain bleak.
This factor also diminishes the prospects of any trilateral arms control
agreement among U.S., Russia and China.
Sufian Ullah. (2020) Arms Control in Crisis: An Assessment of Contemporary Trends, IPRI Journal, Volume-20, Issue-1.
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