Missile Control

UNIDIR Disarmament Forum

Special Issue

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. Much remains to be done, however, as cruise missiles are largely unregulated, HCOC implementation is progressing but leaves much to be desired, and research, development, deployment and international cooperation on active anti-ballistic missile defences continue apace. Following two United Nations panels of governmental experts on missiles in 2002 and 2004 (the latter of which failed to adopt a consensus report) and an expert study conveyed by the UN Secretary-General to the General Assembly in 2006, a third panel of governmental experts will be convened later this year.

FEBRUARY 2007 

 

CONTENTS

  1. Missiles matter (Christophe Carle)
  2. Missiles in conflict: the issue of missiles in all its complexity (Jürgen Scheffran)
  3. Lessons from regional approaches to managing missiles (Waheguru Pal Singh Sidhu)
  4. Missile control agreements: a general approach to monitoring and verification (Michael Vannoni & Kent Biringer)
  5. Connecting paradigms: MANPADS in the national and human security debates (James Bevan)
  6. The final frontier: missile defence in space? (Bruno Gruselle)
Research Papers

The Growing Appeal of Missiles: Current Drivers Behind Ballistic Missile Acquisition and Development

This paper recalls the state of ballistic missile proliferation at the time of the adoption of the Code, before delving into the genesis of the Code and especially the various reports and meetings that promoted the adoption of a supply-side multilateral instrument. It describes the conferences and diplomatic efforts that led to the Code in 2002. It also explains why the Code ended up the way it is today with modest ambitions but concrete outcomes.

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Other publications

The HCoC: relevance to African states

The Hague Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation (HCoC), which came into effect on 25 November 2002, aims to strengthen efforts to curb ballistic missile proliferation worldwide, thereby supplementing the Missile Technology Control Regime, which restricts access to technologies needed to develop such systems. Ballistic missiles are the favoured delivery vehicles for weapons of mass destruction and therefore have a destabilising effect on regional and global security.

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Other publications

North Korean Short Range Systems: Military consequences of the development of the KN-23, KN-24 and KN-25

This study focuses on the new systems introduced, and assesses their potential impact as conventional weapons and as non-conventional weapons. Through an analysis of the possible capacities of these systems, this study examines their consequences on North Korean strategy. It concludes by exploring what this change of strategy may lead to, in military terms, and in political terms, on the Korean peninsula.

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