Small Arms Control: Old Weapons, New Issues

Small Arms Control
Old Weapons, New Issues

Published by Ashgate, in association with UNIDIR
(United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research)

Editorial Committee: Jayantha Dhanapala, Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, United Nations; Mitsuro Donowaki, Ambassador and Special Assistant to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan; Swadesh Rana, Chief, Conventional Arms Branch, Department for Disarmament Affairs, United Nations; and Lora Lumpe, Senior Researcher for the Norwegian Initiative on Small Arms Transfers (NISAT) at the International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO).

The 29 papers collected in this volume were originally prepared for four regional workshops organized by the UN Department for Disarmament Affairs to inform the work of the UN Panel of Governmental Experts on Small Arms. These workshops were held during 1995-96. Most of the papers were updated in 1998. Authors include academic, military, governmental and activist experts.

Contents:

Foreword by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi A. Annan.

Prologue by Mitsuro Donowaki, Chairman of the UN Small Arms Panel.

Part 1: Causal Factors and Policy Considerations: An overview of the global trade in small arms and light weapons; Light weapons and human security—a conceptual overview; Problems and linkages in controlling the proliferation of light weapons; Working toward policies for controlling light weapons; Causation and the arms trade, with reference to small arms; Peace operations, disarmament and post-conflct reconstruction; Areas of major concentration in the use and traffic of small arms.

Part 2: The Problem of Small Arms and Light Weapons in Africa: Control efforts in the Sahel region; The case of Somalia; Rwanda and Burundi: a tragic case study of small arms; Zimbabwe's experience with small arms; The situation in Namibia; A case study of light weapons in Swaziland; Small arms proliferation and disarmament in Mozambique; Firearms in South Africa; A sociological perspective on small arms proliferation in South Africa.

Part 3: The Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean: Sources of weapons procurement, diffusion and violence in Central America; Central America, Haiti and Colombia: problems, initiatives and additional measures; Demobilisation and integration of former combatants in Guatemala; El Salvador's consumer goods for firearms programme; Small arms transfers in the Republic of Panama; Controlling the tools of violence in the Caribbean; Links between drugs and arms in Colombia; Model regulations for the control of firearms.

Part 4: The Plague of Small Arms and Light Weaponry in South Asia: Sources of small arms and light weapons procurement in Southwest Asia; Light weapons flows to and from Afghanistan; Linkages between arms trafficking and the drug trade in South Asia; Illicit transfer of conventional weapons: the role of state and non-state actors in South Asia; National, regional and global measures for controlling light weapons. Epilogue: Recent governmental, trans-governmental and non-governmental efforts to curb the spread of small arms. Recent UNIDIR publications.

November 1999     0 7546 2076 X      £45.00     322pages      Hardback

To order, contact Nicky Comber or click here. To obtain a review copy, email sjohnson@ashgatepub.co.uk