ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the issue of the interaction of the Third World states with the international system in the light of states' weaknesses and vulnerabilities. It emphasizes on the "software" side of the security problem in the Third World as opposed to the traditional Western analyses of security, which tend to concentrate on the "hardware" side of the problem. The close linkage between alliance security and state security that has been such a prominent feature of the post-war political landscape in Europe has been conspicuous by its absence in the Third World. One major factor that has increased the level of violence in the developing world as well as the propensity of Third World states to indulge in interstate conflict is the transfer of modern weapons and weapons technology from the industrialized countries to various parts of the Third World. Nuclear proliferation in the Third World is a subset of the problems connected with the transfer of sophisticated weapons technology.
