ABSTRACT
This chapter begins to look forward to the future role that conventional arms control and confidence building might have in Europe. At the broadest level the functions of arms control can be simply put – the avoidance of war and, if that fails, the mitigation of its worst effects. Ethnic conflict very rapidly came to Europe again after the end of the Cold War. Transnational crime has become another priority security issue for both states and some international organisations since the end of the Cold War. The United States has invested considerable sums in developing a military cyber-warfare capability and should be considered the most advanced military actor in the field recently vesting responsibility for the conduct of such operations in the United States Air Force's Space Command. The chapter concludes with an attempt to predict how some of these security threats might affect the future programme for conventional arms control in Europe.
