ABSTRACT
On the way to a new world order we do not yet know, disorder is the new normal. Six features are particularly noteworthy: (1) Sovereign states are re-emphasised and reconfirmed as the basic building blocks of international affairs; (2) Trade and technology wars and economic sanctions have moved to the top of the international agenda; (3) International norms, institutions, and agreements are falling apart; (4) Geopolitically, the tense relationship between the USA and China is increasingly dominant; (5) New technologies nurture new forms of influence and capacities for violence; and (6) Inherent in all of this, international affairs have become more unpredictable. Such a world does not leave many options for co-operative action. In the military field, states have returned to unilateral security policies as primitive as those of the Cold War. There is one overriding common concern, however: to avoid nuclear war. To this end, stability measures – the primary objective of arms control – are of the essence. The need for a global framework for responsible nuclear conduct, arms control and disarmament, realistic enough to gain traction while capturing the aspiration of a world free of nuclear dangers, is at least as strong as 60 years ago, when arms control was first introduced.
