Although it receives much less attention than better known disarmament processes, the destruction of small arms is reshaping the military arsenals of the world. Out of roughly 200 modern military small arms world-wide, about 500,000 are destroyed every year. The commitment of major governments and international organizations makes small arms destruction is a permanent addition to the global disarmament repertoire. But the prospects for greater military small arms disarmament may be declining, as war in Afghanistan and Iraq create unprecedented demand for second-hand weaponry. Inconspicuous disarmament of small arms and ammunition is reshaping the global picture of firearms, light weapons and ammunition. The process is far from comprehensive, but much more than cosmetic. Small arms destruction is here to stay, but its contributions may be fleeting. This book is the first full-length examination of the issue. The case studies in this volume examine the politics of military small arms disarmament. When, they ask, is surplus destruction most likely? And what can be done to make destruction more likely and more effective? Case studies examine small arms destruction by NATO and the OSCE, and in Bulgaria, Cambodia, Germany, Kazakhstan, Papua New Guinea, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine and others. This book was published as a special issue of Contemporary Security Policy.

This publication examines the experiences of South Africa and Lesotho in the disposal of surplus weapons and the management of small arms stocks. It seeks to highlight the lessons learned and benefits realised in terms of security, development and economics, in order to encourage other governments in Africa to carry out similar programmes.

Although it receives much less attention than better known disarmament processes, the destruction of small arms is reshaping the military arsenals of the world. Out of roughly 200 modern military small arms world-wide, about 500,000 are destroyed every year. The commitment of major governments and international organizations makes small arms destruction is a permanent addition to the global disarmament repertoire. But the prospects for greater military small arms disarmament may be declining, as war in Afghanistan and Iraq create unprecedented demand for second-hand weaponry. Inconspicuous disarmament of small arms and ammunition is reshaping the global picture of firearms, light weapons and ammunition. The process is far from comprehensive, but much more than cosmetic. Small arms destruction is here to stay, but its contributions may be fleeting. This book is the first full-length examination of the issue. The case studies in this volume examine the politics of military small arms disarmament. When, they ask, is surplus destruction most likely? And what can be done to make destruction more likely and more effective? Case studies examine small arms destruction by NATO and the OSCE, and in Bulgaria, Cambodia, Germany, Kazakhstan, Papua New Guinea, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine and others. This book was published as a special issue of Contemporary Security Policy.

The Small Arms Survey 2015 examines the role of weapons and armed violence in humanity's appropriation of the earth's wildlife and mineral riches - in Africa, where the poaching of elephants and rhinos is becoming increasingly militarised, and near resource extraction sites around the world. In addition to presenting updates on the UN small arms process and the top arms importers and exporters, the volume assesses how recent technological developments affect weapons marking, record-keeping, and tracing; reviews small arms flows to Egypt, Libya, and Syria; and evaluates a stockpile management initiative in south-east Europe. The 'armed actors' section sheds light on the arms and ammunition used by insurgents in northern Mali, the decline of the Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda, and the use of floating armouries by private security companies in the Indian Ocean. This edition also analyses conditions that are driving young people to adopt high-risk coping strategies in Burundi.

Highlights emerging trends and concerns regarding armed violence and small arms proliferation as well as related policies and programming.

The Small Arms Survey 2008 examines the problem of diversion and analyses the public health approach to armed violence.

This book examines the emergence of new international norms to govern the spread of small arms, and the extent to which these norms have been established in the policies and practices of states, regions and international organizations. It also attempts to establish criteria for assessing norm emergence, and to assess the process of norm development by comparing what actually happens at the multilateral level. If norm-making on small arms and related multilateral negotiations have mostly dealt with ‘illicit arms’, and most of the norms examined here fall on the arms supplier side of the arms equation, the author argues that the creation of international norms and the setting of widely agreed standards amongst states on all aspects of the demand for, availability, and spread of both legal and illegal small arms and light weapons must become central to the multilateral coordination of policy responses in order to tackle the growing violence associated with small arms availability. Small Arms and Security will be of interest to researchers and professionals in the fields of peace and conflict studies, global governance, international security and disarmament.

An Introduction to European Intergovernmental Organizations provides an up-to-date and accessible reference to European intergovernmental organizations other than the European Union. The EU is so dominant that people often overlook the multitude of older and newer, smaller and larger intergovernmental organizations rooted in the history of contemporary Europe which continue to help shape its future. The specialized character of these organizations adds value to cooperation in Europe as a whole, creates permanent channels of communication regardless of EU membership and allows the possibility for non-European involvement through organizations such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and NATO. It also allows sub regional groups of states, such as the Nordic countries or the Benelux countries to exist and express their own identity via their own organizations. This book looks at the history of Non-EU organizations, their decision-making characteristics, membership policies, legal powers actions and interactions with each other and the European Union. A uniform scheme of analysis is used to make European intergovernmental organizations comparable and by studying them we gain a deeper understanding and insight into European affairs.

During the Cold War, the G3 was one of the world's pre-eminent battle rifles. Developed in France and Spain after 1945, the rifle was produced by the German arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch. Adopted by more than 40 countries and produced on licence by many more, it was widely employed during colonial wars in Africa, insurgencies in Latin America and conflicts in the Middle East, but perhaps its widest use was in the Iran–Iraq War. Variants of the G3 have also seen substantial usage among Special Forces including Britain's Special Boat Service and the US Navy SEALs. Semi-automatic versions, especially the HK91 and HK93, remain popular in the United States, and the G3-derived HK11 and HK21 family of light machine guns have also been widely adopted by military and law-enforcement units across the world. Fully illustrated with specially commissioned artwork, this study examines one of the iconic weapons of the Cold War era.

This book assesses how progress in disarmament diplomacy in the last decade has improved human security. In doing so, the book looks at three cases of the development of international norms in this arena. First, it traces how new international normative understandings have shaped the evolution of and support for an Arms Trade Treaty (the supply side of the arms trade); and, second, it examines the small arms international regime and examines a multilateral initiative that aims to address the demand side (by the Geneva Declaration); and, third, it examines the evolution of two processes to ban and regulate cluster munitions. The formation of international norms in these areas is a remarkable development, as it means that a domain that was previously thought to be the exclusive purview of states, i.e. how they procure and manage arms, has been penetrated by multiple influences from worldwide civil society. As a result, norms and treaties are being established to address the domain of arms, and states will have more multilateral restriction over their arms and less sovereignty in this domain. This book will be of much interest to students of the arms trade, international security, international law, human security and IR in general. Denise Garcia is Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Northeastern University, Boston. She is author of Small Arms and Security (Routledge 2006).