Verified Transparency

Conventional arms control in Europe has reached a crossroads. If the modernization of the legally binding CFE Treaty and the politically binding Vienna Document fails, the treaties will likely fade away in the next few years. Hans-Joachim Schmidt points out the merits of conventional arms control, analyzes the current crisis and proposes a series of concrete instruments and measures for its modernization. He argues the importance of conventional arms control for security cooperation in the future, as it could reestablish confidence and strengthen the OSCE. Even the ambitious aim of global Nuclear Zero would have no chance of being realized for the time being with the loss of the arms control instrument.