ABSTRACT
The difficulties connected with the verification of disarmament have been seen as a function of the technological inadequacies of the means and methods used for gaining the information necessary to check whether or not treaties were being fully implemented. The present study has tried to avoid these specific technical problems of verification, maintaining that, although they represent a problem to be dealt with by disarmament negotiators, they no longer play a crucial role in hindering disarmament progress. This chapter implys that the basic function of verification is a mechanism for building confidence; that its role is to help preserve the political context on which states based their expectations when they constructed, and became participants in, a disarmament agreement. National interests are commonly cited by governments and politicians as a fundamental basis for their actions, and for this reason they must be regarded as an important factor in determining the domestic and foreign policy of states.
