The Adequacy of International Law for Arms Control – Post Sept. 11: Arms Control and Nonproliferation

Arms control was never an end in itself. Arms control and nonproliferation policy always had as their goals increasing international security. It may be worth recalling that, in response to having it called to his attention that he had changed his views on a matter, Lord Keynes is widely reported to have quipped, When the facts change, what do you do? Indeed, as Lord Keynes also once said, There is no harm in sometimes being wrong-especially if one is promptly found out. The question for this panel is whether the sea change in strategic thinking reflected in the arms control and nonproliferation policies of the Bush administration are based on new facts and a better understanding of the relation between those policies and the international environment. In keeping with the theme of this conference, we need to explore whether long-established or emerging understandings of the role international law plays in this area provide the best platform for assuring international security from the risk of weapons of mass destruction. Are arms control and nonproliferation in fact a case of delegalization, or are they simply the beginnings of a relegalization on entirely new premises