Armaments and Disarmament in the Post-Cold War Period

This chapter traces the state of armament and disarmament in the post-Cold War period, focusing on the potential dangers as well as opportunities for peaceful change. It deals with the circumstantial determinants and daunting problems of contemporary armaments and disarmament. Suffice it to point out here that sweeping changes are under way in military sectors, including planning, production and deployment. Instead of a peaceful discontinuity with the turbulent past, in the post-Cold War period also people face continuity of conflict, armaments and political-military contention. It was evident that behind this haste, which created the impression of a nuclear "disarmament race", lay different apprehensions. In a military-political perspective, the radical transformation of the political map of Europe which occured together with the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) negotiations has changed the very nature of the Treaty. A powerful boost to post-Cold War armaments, especially in the domain of advanced military technology, has come from the Gulf War.