Arms Control Disarmament And National Security

"Based on a special issue (fall 1960) of Daedalus." Bibliography: p. 457-470.

In this volume, originally published by Ohio State University Press in 1962, the author discusses the serious strategic gap between those responsible for deterrence and those responsible for disarmament in both the Soviet Union and the United States. Even when there is effective communication, their policies are often inconsistent, erratic, and incompatible. The purpose of this study is to offer a model of strategic decision-making through which we may understand how these irrational policies emerge and how they might be modified

This book accessibly and expertly details the history and implications of the BWC—the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention—a controversial arms control agreement drafted in the 1970’s meant to supplement the Geneva protocol for warfare from decades earlier. That treaty banned the use of biological weapons in modern warfare, but failed to ban their development, transport or trafficking, holes the BWC aimed to fill, but are still contested to this day. Daniel M. Gerstein, a former Army Colonel and current Under Secretary in the Department of Homeland Security, traces the origins of the treaty and its many complications, past and present, while prescribing a way for the world’s military leaders to move forward with regards to (what Gerstein sees will be and already is) “the most important arms control treaty of the 21st Century.” The strength and enforcement of the treaty are at a crossroads, and it is important for both professionals and students of the military and international affairs to know exactly what a failure to honor, improve and uphold the BWC would mean for international security.

This facsimile reprint of the 1989 edition is, according to Library Journal, ..".a wonderfully concise and comprehensive resource on a very important topic. In 268 detailed entries, the authors provide a wealth of information on such topics as the arms race, conventional and nuclear weapons, nuclear strategy, and disarmament. The entries are cross-referenced, and there is an index. Of great value to general readers as well as specialists."