Arms Control Without Arms Control

Arms Control Without Arms Control

Author: Guy B. Roberts

Publisher:

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 132

ISBN-13:

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This is the 49th volume in the Occasional Paper series of the U.S. Air Force Institute for National Security Studies (INSS). Among the many dimensions of national security that face unprecedented changes and challenges after the end of the Cold War, arms control has been as directly affected as any other dimension. The formal, bilateral, and verification-based arms control that was so central to that former period fits neither the new environment nor the expanded focus beyond the strategic nuclear arena. In this paper, Guy Roberts presents yet another of his insightful explanations and analyses of the adaptations and new directions that are required to give arms control continued relevance today and tomorrow. This thorough analysis of the special case of biological warfare controls follows his January 2001 INSS Occasional Paper 36, "This Arms Control Dog Won't Hunt: The Proposed Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty at the Conference on Disarmament," in chronicling both the failure of continuing emphasis on formal Cold War-type arms control products and the enduring centrality of cooperative arms control processes in the current national security environment. In Roberts' line of argument, arms control is indeed dead, yet arms control can and must be reborn in the form of a wide range of integrally linked and multifaceted legal, diplomatic, economic, and military instruments to effectively fight the spread and use of dangerous weapons and systems.


Global Security Engagement

Global Security Engagement

Author: National Academy of Sciences

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2009-07-29

Total Pages: 181

ISBN-13: 0309142377

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The government's first Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) programs were created in 1991 to eliminate the former Soviet Union's nuclear, chemical, and other weapons and prevent their proliferation. The programs have accomplished a great deal: deactivating thousands of nuclear warheads, neutralizing chemical weapons, converting weapons facilities for peaceful use, and redirecting the work of former weapons scientists and engineers, among other efforts. Originally designed to deal with immediate post-Cold War challenges, the programs must be expanded to other regions and fundamentally redesigned as an active tool of foreign policy that can address contemporary threats from groups that are that are agile, networked, and adaptable. As requested by Congress, Global Security Engagement proposes how this goal can best be achieved. To meet the magnitude of new security challenges, particularly at the nexus of weapons of mass destruction and terrorism, Global Security Engagement recommends a new, more flexible, and responsive model that will draw on a broader range of partners than current programs have. The White House, working across the Executive Branch and with Congress, must lead this effort.


Improving Metrics for the Department of Defense Cooperative Threat Reduction Program

Improving Metrics for the Department of Defense Cooperative Threat Reduction Program

Author: National Academy of Sciences

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2012-01-20

Total Pages: 119

ISBN-13: 0309222583

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The Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) Program was created in 1991 as a set of support activities assisting the Former Soviet Union states in securing and eliminating strategic nuclear weapons and the materials used to create them. The Program evolved as needs and opportunities changed: Efforts to address biological and chemical threats were added, as was a program aimed at preventing cross-border smuggling of weapons of mass destruction. CTR has traveled through uncharted territory since its inception, and both the United States and its partners have taken bold steps resulting in progress unimagined in initial years. Over the years, much of the debate about CTR on Capitol Hill has concerned the effective use of funds, when the partners would take full responsibility for the efforts, and how progress, impact, and effectiveness should be measured. Directed by Congress, the Secretary of Defense completed a report describing DoD's metrics for the CTR Program (here called the DoD Metrics Report) in September 2010 and, as required in the same law, contracted with the National Academy of Sciences to review the metrics DoD developed and identify possible additional or alternative metrics, if necessary. Improving Metrics for the DoD Cooperative Threat Reduction Program provides that review and advice. Improving Metrics for the DoD Cooperative Threat Reduction Program identifies shortcomings in the DoD Metrics Report and provides recommendations to enhance DoD's development and use of metrics for the CTR Program. The committee wrote this report with two main audiences in mind: Those who are mostly concerned with the overall assessment and advice, and those readers directly involved in the CTR Program, who need the details of the DoD report assessment and of how to implement the approach that the committee recommends.