CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

TREATY ON CONVENTIONAL FORCES IN EUR0PE (CFE)

NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY (NPT)

COMPREHENSIVE TEST BAN TREATY

TREATY ON THE LIMITATION OF ANTIBALLISTIC MISSILES (ABM)

STRATEGIC ARMS REDUCTION TREATIES (START I and II)

TREATY ON CERTAIN CONVENTIONAL WEAPONS (CCW)

CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION (CWC)

OPEN SKIES TREATY

ANNEX 1: Disarmament and security milestones in Europe

ANNEX 2: Level of strategic nuclear weapons after the START-2 disarmament process

INTRODUCTION

Over the last few years, as a result of the drastic changes consequent on the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Communist bloc, the international community has shown greater commitment to reducing various types of weapons and to drawing up treaties and conventions. These efforts reveal a clear intention to establish a legal framework adequate to reflect, inter alia, the new balance of power on the European continent and in the world as a whole.

New treaties have appeared to supplement the agreements by which, roughly from the 1970s, an attempt was made to bring about some degree of regulation in this field. The break-up of the Soviet Union has made it possible to look again at the terms of some conventions and give a new impulse to international dialogue, while stressing the serious and precarious position of the former Soviet republics on which the heritage of the Soviet era lies heavy.

This study, which does not aim to be exhaustive, covers the main international conventions on arms control and disarmament, bringing the record up to date concerning negotiations on those which have not yet entered into force and listing the most recent developments on those which have been in force for some years.