Knowra Arms control Arms control Arms control comprises agreements and policies that limit, regulate, or increase transparency about weapons development, deployment, or use, especially between states.
Verification regime : Arrangements for checking whether parties comply with an agreement. Inspections and monitoring make negotiated weapons limits testable.
Washington Naval Treaty : A 1922 agreement that limited major naval powers’ battleship tonnage and regulated certain warship construction. It established early negotiated limits on the scale and design of major weapons.
Nuclear arms control : Agreements and policies regulating nuclear weapons, delivery systems, testing, or related materials. Nuclear arsenals have produced the field’s most extensive bilateral and multilateral agreements.
Disarmament : The reduction or elimination of weapons, armed forces, or military capabilities. Arms control can regulate weapons while leaving them in service; disarmament seeks reductions or abolition.
Nuclear risk reduction : Measures intended to lower the probability or consequences of accidental, mistaken, or unauthorized nuclear use. Communication channels and agreed procedures can reduce crisis escalation and launch errors.
National technical means of verification : Remote observation methods, such as satellites, used by states to monitor treaty compliance. Satellite imagery and other remote methods can check activity without on-site access.
Kellogg–Briand Pact : A 1928 treaty in which signatories renounced war as an instrument of national policy. Its ambition to outlaw war contrasted with later efforts to manage armaments directly.
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty : A 1987 U.S.–Soviet treaty that eliminated their ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 kilometers. It eliminated an entire category of weapons rather than merely capping its numbers.
Deterrence theory : The theory that threats of retaliation can prevent an adversary from taking an unwanted action. Deterrence relies on credible military threats, while arms control seeks to constrain their risks and scale.
Arms race : A competition in which states expand or improve their military capabilities in response to one another. Arms control seeks to restrain competitive buildup, though mistrust can keep an arms race going.
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