Licit Weapons as a Source of Instability - Implementing Domestic Legislations & Reforms in Pakistan

Abstract

In the Contemporary Conflicts of the post-Cold War period, the question of what comes first, Conflict or Weapons, becomes irrelevant in the face of the quantity and sophistication arms available to actors involved. Pakistan is a country that shows many of the symptoms which are a characteristic of small arms diffusion into the larger social fabric. Given the complex nature of politics, the country is affected not only by external but domestic sources and drivers that have complicated the issue over the decades. For academic purposes, these sources and problems can broadly be divided into four categories canvassing the range of regulated and non-regulated drivers and causes both at the domestic as well as external level. The study aims to examine at length the impact of how regulated sources of SALW in the private armament sector have gradually emerged and cast an impact on the security profile of the country.