Summary: Themes receiving broad support at the conference

Abstract

Disarmament in general. Arms control and disarmament are both affected by—and contribute to—wider conditions of international peace and security. The international security situation has undergone profound changes. At present, the international community is facing more and more diversified threats to its security. This calls for a new paradigm of cooperation and a new disarmament agenda responsive to the new situation. One participant emphasized that disarmament is best seen as part of a wider agenda of peace. Another voiced views (echoed by others) that “our conventional approaches to arms control and disarmament have not been—or are no longer—adequate to the task.” The world needs a new approach to security, one meeting human needs in a world facing new or persisting threats from weapons of mass destruction and from large-scale terrorist acts. All agreed on the need for a rule-based, multilateral approach to disarmament. One participant urged, “We need to prevent a miasma of inertia, despair, and cynicism ... we must keep the edifice of disarmament credible.”