ABSTRACT
This introduction presents the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of the book. The book focuses on the following treaties: Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction, January 13, 1993 ("CWC"); Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, September 18, 1997 ("Ottawa Convention"); and Convention on Cluster Munitions, May 30, 2008 ("Oslo Convention"). The CWC and the Ottawa and Oslo Conventions are, above all, arms control treaties. The content of the Arms Trade Treaty ("ATT") is mixed, but does include arms control features. As far as the ATT is concerned, the reference in the treaty's second preambular paragraph to the principle of the least diversion of the world's human and economic resources suggests that the notion of "security" should encompass a broad range of issues affecting human well-being of a socio-economic nature, including development and sustainability.
