10. Conventional arms control

Summary

A long-awaited breakthrough in the European
conventional arms control regime came about in 1999. The Agreement
on Adaptation of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe
(CFE) and the Vienna Document 1999 on Confidence- and Security-building
Measures were signed at the Istanbul OSCE Summit Meeting in November.
This stood in contrast to growing divergences between NATO and
Russia regarding the latter’s opposition to NATO enlargement,
their worsened relations in the wake of the Kosovo intervention
and the war in Chechnya. The intervention in Kosovo also marred
regional arms control endeavours in the Balkans, but some progress
was reported in the latter part of the year.

The modernization of confidence- and security-building measures
(CSBMs) in Europe was concluded after a two-year-long negotiation.
The most important element, regional approaches included in the
Vienna Document 1999, should help to better handle contingencies
below the pan-European level. The Kosovo crisis and the conflict
in Chechnya became a test for the ‘foul weather’ relevance
of CSBMs. The regional CSBM experiment in the Balkans is proceeding
fairly well, although still under the umbrella of international
institutions and military forces. Hopefully, the evolving network
of various arms control-related agreements in the region will
inject enough stability and security to help make the Balkan
peace process irreversible.

Conventional arms control outside Europe was rather uneventful
in 1999, reflecting the general stalemate in this field.

Appendix 10A. Confidence- and security-building measures in Europe

ZDZISLAW LACHOWSKI

Full text (PDF)

Appendix 10A reviews CSBMs in Europe.

Appendix 10B. Documents on conventional arms control

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Appendix 10B contains documents
on conventional arms control: the Vienna Document 1999, the Amended
CFE Treaty and the Final Act of the Conference of the States
Parties to the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe.