Arms Control Agreements: A Handbook

Originally published in 1982, this is the most comprehensive handbook on arms control ever published. It contains an analysis of the bilateral and multilateral agreements reached since World War II. An assessment is made of the extent to which each agreement has affected the arms race, reduced the likelihood of war or otherwise contributed to the overall goal of disarmament. Ongoing arms control negotiations are also analyzed. The complex problem of verification of compliance with arms control obligations is critically examined, and the shortcomings of the existing arrangements are pointed out. The critique is searching, objective and free of the usual biases of official government reports. The analysis of the arms control agreements is preceded by an historical overview, beginning with the Hague Peace Conferences, held at the turn of this century, through the League of Nations' attempts to bring about a universal reduction of armaments, to the activities of the United Nations in the field of arms regulation and general disarmament. The present arms control negotiating machinery is described. The texts of the relevant documents are reproduced for handy reference and the status of the implementation of the most important multilateral arms control agreements is presented in tabular form. Tables and figures facilitate the reading.

This book, first published in 1982, provides a well-informed historical overview, insightful analysis and searching critique of arms control agreements and negotiations from the Hague Declaration of 1899 to the SALT Treaties and Conventions of the 1970s and 1980s. Arms control agreements of international importance and historical merit are assessed, for the extent to which each affected the arms race or reduced the likelihood of war.

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Original Title Page -- Original Copyright Page -- Preface -- Contents -- Introduction -- Chapter 1. Pre-World War II efforts towards multilateral control of arms -- I. The humanitarian rules of war -- II. The peace treaties -- III. The naval treaties -- The 1922 Washington Treaty -- The 1930 London Treaty -- The 1936 London Treaty -- IV. Attempts to regulate arms trade and production -- The 1890 Brussels Act -- The 1906 Act of Algeciras -- The 1919 St Germain Convention -- The League of Nations Armaments Year-book -- The 1925 Geneva Convention on the arms trade -- The 1929 proposal for supervision of arms production -- V. Limitation of armaments in Central America -- VI. The First World Disarmament Conference -- Renunciation of war -- Armed forces, armaments and defence expenditures -- Chemical, incendiary and bacteriological warfare -- Arms trade and manufacture -- Verification and sanctions -- Moral disarmament -- Chapter 2. Early United Nations arms control activities -- I. The UN Charter -- II. Nuclear disarmament -- The Baruch Plan -- The Soviet response -- US-Soviet differences -- 'Atoms for Peace' -- III. Limitation of armed forces and armaments -- Soviet and Western approaches -- Soviet and Western disarmament programmes in 1954-55 -- The 1955 Geneva Summit -- IV. Arms control conferences in 1958 -- V. General and complete disarmament -- The principle of balance -- Duration and stages -- Reduction of armed forces and conventional armaments -- Nuclear disarmament -- Verification -- Peace-keeping -- Chapter 3. A review of the obligations in the arms control agreements -- I. Restrictions on nuclear weapon testing -- Partial Test Ban Treaty -- Threshold Test Ban Treaty -- Peaceful Nuclear Explosions Treaty -- Comprehensive test ban -- II. Strategic arms limitation -- ABM Treaty.