Skip to content
Unit 1The Foundations of Arms Control
All chapters
  1. 1. Theoretical foundations
  2. 2. What to control? Types of weapons
  3. 3. How to control? Forms of arms control
  4. 4. Verification and implementation
  5. 5. The future of arms control
  6. 6. Further reading
Your bookmarks

When you add chapters to your bookmarks they'll appear here.

Large metal sculpture of a revolver with a knot in the barrel is seen against a stone building facade.

Above: Non-Violence by Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd at the United Nations headquarters, August 2017.

© Gerhard Huber / CC-BY-NC 4.0

The Foundations of Arms Control

For several decades, arms control, non-proliferation and disarmament have played a key role in many states’ security and foreign policies. This learning unit provides a general introduction to the field and explains how arms control can help to promote international peace and security.

Start learning unit

Chapters

  1. 1. Theoretical foundations

  2. 2. What to control? Types of weapons

  3. 3. How to control? Forms of arms control

  4. 4. Verification and implementation

  5. 5. The future of arms control

  6. 6. Further reading

Learning Objectives

Learning objectives

This learning unit aims to provide you with a basic understanding of arms control and explains how it can help to promote international peace and security. You will learn the core objectives of arms control and how the concepts of sarms control relate to non-proliferation, disarmament, humanitarian arms control and other critical approaches. After completing this learning unit, you will also understand what types of weapons exist, how exactly these can be regulated by arms control, and what the factors of success are. Lastly, you will learn why verification is a crucial component of arms control and what the future of arms control might hold.

Credits

  • Christopher Daase profile image

    Christopher Daase

    Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF)

    Christopher Daase is Professor of International Relations at Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany, and Deputy Director of the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF) where he heads the research department on “International Security”. His research and teaching focuses on security policy (especially wars and civil wars, terrorism and radicalization, non-proliferation and arms control) as well as international institutions. Dr. Daase studied political science, literature, philosophy and art history in Hamburg, Freiburg and Berlin and conducted doctoral research as a SSRC-MacArthur Fellow in International Peace and Security at Harvard University and the RAND Corporation. In 1996 he received his doctorate from the FU Berlin with a thesis on unconventional warfare. He is co-founder of the Arms Control Negotiation Academy (ACONA), and member of the Executive Board of the EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Consortium. Dr. Daase has published several books and numerous articles in international journals and was editor of the leading German international relations journal for more than ten years. Since 2022 he is member of the Advisory Board on Education and Outreach of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

  • Frank Kuhn profile image

    Frank Kuhn

    Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF)

    Frank Kuhn is a Doctoral Researcher at Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF), Germany. His research interests include arms control and nonproliferation, nuclear deterrence, military technology, and military strategy. In his dissertation, he explores the motives of high-level U.S. decisionmakers to engage in strategic arms reductions talks with the Soviet Union and Russia. Frank Kuhn is also the Project Coordinator for the Cluster for Natural and Technical Science Arms Control Research (CNTR) at PRIF, which analyzes emerging technologies and developments in the natural and technical sciences from an interdisciplinary perspective. He holds an M.A. in International Studies/Peace and Conflict Studies from Goethe University Frankfurt and Technical University Darmstadt, Germany, and a B.A. in Political Science, also from Goethe University Frankfurt. Frank Kuhn is member of the Young Deep Cuts Commission and a 2025 Nuclear Scholar of the Project on Nuclear Issues (PONI) at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C.

Start learning unit
Download PDF

Disclosures

Content Warning

This learning unit may contain audio-visual material or texts, which may not be suitable for all audiences.

Funding

This Learning Unit was produced with financial assistance from the European Union. The contents of this Learning Unit are however the sole responsibility of the author(s) and should under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.

External Links

The site may contain hyperlink text references (’Links’) to other sites that are offered by third parties. These Links are made available solely for the purpose of information and as an additional service for users. Only the respective operator is responsible for all content and statements on linked Internet sites. Therefore, PRIF cannot guarantee the correctness and accuracy or any other aspect of third party sites.

Preferred Citation

Christopher Daase and Frank Kuhn, "The Foundations of Arms Control" in EUNPDC eLearning, ed. Niklas Schörnig, Peace Research Institute Frankfurt. Available at https://eunpdc-elearning.netlify.app/lu-01/, last modified 5 May 2025

Editorial Note

This is a beta version of the learning unit, which is regularly optimised. Please report any factual errors or discrepancies to the publisher. (support(at)nonproliferation-elearning.eu). Please note that although the original text was written by the authors, the video production and simplifications were carried out by PRIF.

The EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament eLearning Course aims to cover all aspects of the EU non-proliferation and disarmament agenda. It's produced by PRIF with financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of individual learning units are the sole responsibility of the respective authors and don't necessariy reflect the position of the European Union.