Arms control, the theory and practice guiding the decades-long effort by the United States and other nations to limit the dangers posed by weapons of mass destruction (WMD), no longer works. A new paradigm is required for the United States and the world to be protected from mass destruction weapons. This essay examines the progress of US WMD policy since the end of the Cold War, and outlines the principles and rationale upon which a new, more appropriate policy might successfully be founded.

Stimson Occasional Paper 40