Special comment

SPECIAL COMMENTNuclear Terrorism and Nuclear Arms ControlChanged security environmentOld certainties have gone. The bipolar Cold War order has vanished. The international communitytoday is faced with multifaceted and multidirectional risks. Apart from an increased potential of regionalconflicts, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and terrorism are of particular concern. Theheinous attacks of 11 September 2001 have increased the awareness of the danger of terrorists gainingaccess to weapons of mass destruction, radioactive material and their means of delivery. To meet thesenew challenges, solidarity and common responses on the basis of jointly defined norms are morerelevant than ever before. There is no room for a ‘deregulation’ of security relations. Instead we needa broad alliance and a common resolve in the fight against terrorism. Multilateral instruments in thefield of disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation provide indispensable normative elementsand can by way of their effective implementation reduce the risk of proliferation to terrorists. Inaddition, multilateral instruments can help bolster a durable international coalition against terrorism.Finally, the inherent limitations of an approach that is restricted to deterrence, defence and denial areobvious. Today’s terrorists can hardly be deterred. We cannot build impenetrable defences nor, in aglobalized world where there is universal access to technology and where secondary ...