This issue of Disarmament Forum assesses the current situation concerning missiles and investigates future prospects for control. Existing devices, such as the Missile Technology Control Regime and the Hague Code of Conduct (HCOC), UN Security Council resolution 1540 and the Proliferation Security Initiative, are all attempts at ameliorating some aspects of missile-related problems, as are the various bilateral confidence-building measures already in operation.

With a view to liberalizing access to missile technologies, the MTCR would therefore remain a central instrument, since it would continue to regulate sensitive exports. Admittedly, its final binding effects could, in the short term, be further attenuated, turning the regime into a forum for harmonization.