An Arms Control Primer

The Arms Control, Treaty Verification, and Dismantlement Subcommittee has started the development of a primer and annotated bibliography. This primer will summarize the history of arms control, current treaties and their implementation, as well as possible future technical options, serving as an introductory resource and refresher for both technical and non-technical individuals. The annotated bibliography will support the core material to allow deeper study of specific topics. The goals of this activity are to create an arms control and treaty verification resource for members of all levels and experience, while simultaneously promoting and strengthening the network of people within the nuclear community, interested in different areas that fall under the ACTVD umbrella. The work is collaborative, inviting subject matter experts from across the community to participate. The topics span technical and non-technical areas. One topic is a “History of Arms Control.” Arms control didn’t start with the nuclear age. What kinds of agreements have existed before and why do countries enter into them? Moving into the modern era, an “Overview of Arms Control and Nuclear Weapons” will be provided covering Declarations, Nuclear Enterprises, Warhead Confirmation, and Dismantlement Verification. Specific treaties and development efforts and the issues they raise will be introduced, focusing on the most important ones in addition to any that illustrate particular issues. Short summaries of past and current technical topics relevant to ACTVD will be included. This presentation will summarize a few of the already complete primer topics as an introduction to expected format and content, as well as discuss expectations, a prioritized list of outstanding primer topics and timeline in preparation for a formal session at the next INMM annual conference.