Arms Control and World Order

Abstract

()ur present theory and practice of arms control rests on a set of assumptions-sometimes explicit, more often implicit-as to what kind of world order is desirable and feasible. It is inevitable that this should be so, for to raise questions about the quality and quantity of arms that should exist in international society, about who should possess them, where they should be deployed, for what objectives and in what ways they should be used, is to raise questions about the political structure of the world and the distribution of power within it. But the set of assumptions about world order which at present underlies the enterprise of arms control commands little support outside the circle of the United States and the Soviet Union and their closest allies. This is in itself sufficient reason for raising the questions with which this essay is concerned, viz. 1. What assumptions concerning a desirable and feasible world order are implicit in our present theory and practice of arms control? 2. What assumptions about world order should inform our approach to arms control? 3. Given answers to the above questions, what consequences follow for arms control policy?