Humanitarian Practices of Arms Control and Disarmament

Abstract

This article dwells briefly on the positivist and critical security studies approaches to classifying practices of humanitarianism, arms control, and disarmament as old and new. It then expands on this classification by focusing on three specific constitutive practices of identity, expertise and security to demonstrate alignments of power forged between state and non-state actors as they navigate possibilities of creating a humanitarian space in the field of arms control and disarmament to reconceptualize practices of arms control and disarmament as a problem of human security. The article argues that these efforts cannot produce a paradigm shift capable of transforming practices of arms control and disarmament unless they are accompanied by a greater degree of reflexivity among the humanitarian actors on their practices as they strive to meet the conditions of acceptance established by sovereign nation-states as the dominant actors in the field of arms control and disarmament.