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Unit 20Arms Control History
All chapters
  1. 0. A Message from the Author
  2. 2. The Beginning of Arms Control
  3. 3. From the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the Cold War
  4. 4. From Traditional Bilateralism to Universal Multilateralism: 1961–1980
  5. 5. Arms Control Since the End of the 20th Century
  6. 6. Arms Control and the European Integration’s History
  7. 7. Summary and Further Reading
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Black and white photograph shows the interior of a large room with members of a committee reading documents at a large table.

Above: Allied negotiators read documents related to the Treaty of Versailles, June 1919.

Helen Johns Kirtland / Public Domain. Source: Library of Congress

Arms Control History

This learning unit provides a brief history of arms control, arguing that arms control may be considered a relevant discipline from antiquity until today.

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Chapters

  1. 1. A Message from the Author

    A quick video introduction from the home office.

  2. 2. The Beginning of Arms Control

    This chapter sets the frame by debating forms of arms control from antiquity to the modern era.

  3. 3. From the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the Cold War

    In this chapter, you will learn about the concept of disarmament and the genesis of modern arms control.

  4. 4. From Traditional Bilateralism to Universal Multilateralism: 1961–1980

    This chapter dives deeply into the Cold War era, debating the SALT process and the ABM Treaty. Those bilateral instruments are accompanied and followed by multilateral agreements such as the Biological and Chemical Weapons Conventions.

  5. 5. Arms Control Since the End of the 20th Century

    [Missing display copy]

  6. 6. Arms Control and the European Integration’s History

    This chapter focusses on the EU and its approach towards arms control through different instruments.

  7. 7. Summary and Further Reading

Credits

  • Benjamin Hautecouverture profile image

    Benjamin Hautecouverture

    Fondation pour la recherche stratégique (FRS)

    Benjamin Hautecouverture is a Senior research fellow for arms control, non-proliferation and disarmament issues at the Fondation pour la recherche stratégique (FRS), Paris, France. He is the Technical Director of the EU Partner to Partner programme of the European Union for the implementation and universalisation of the Arms Trade Treaty, at Expertise France. He is a senior fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, in Ottawa, and was formerly a lecturer at Sciences Po and the Ecole Polytechnique, both in Paris.

    For two decades, his areas of focus have included the study of strategic relations between states; nuclear deterrence; non-proliferation and disarmament in the field of weapons of mass destruction and conventional weapons; the nuclear proliferation phenomenon and nuclear proliferation crises; and the North-East Asian strategic landscape with a focus on the North Korea nuclear and ballistic issues. He continues to work on nuclear security, the NPT review process, the chemical weapons prohibition regime, along with European Union security and defense challenges and prospects, including the various EU security strategies.

    He is the author of several books in collaboration: The Nuclear Nonproliferation Regime at a Crossroads (Palgrave MacMillan, 2014), WMD Arms Control in the Middle East: Prospects, Obstacles and Options (Routledge, 2015), among others. He regularly publishes articles on major international security issues. As of March 2022, his latest articles addressed the issue of European strategic autonomy, the future of strategic stability, strategic risk reduction, the NPT and the P5 process, nuclear security and terrorism, and the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).

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Disclosures

Content Warning

This learning unit may contain audio-visual material or texts, which may not be suitable for all audiences.

Funding

This Learning Unit was produced with financial assistance from the European Union. The contents of this Learning Unit are however the sole responsibility of the author(s) and should under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.

External Links

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Preferred Citation

Benjamin Hautecouverture, "Arms Control History" in EUNPDC eLearning, ed. Niklas Schörnig, Peace Research Institute Frankfurt. Available at https://eunpdc-elearning.netlify.app/lu-20/, last modified 30 September 2024

The EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament eLearning Course aims to cover all aspects of the EU non-proliferation and disarmament agenda. It's produced by PRIF with financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of individual learning units are the sole responsibility of the respective authors and don't necessariy reflect the position of the European Union.