Examining international responses to illicit arms trafficking

Abstract

Concerns about illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons have moved rapidly up the international agenda since 1996. Within about three years a range of international responses to this problem, and to the closely related issue of small arms proliferation, have developed at sub-regional, regional and international level - in Africa, Europe and the Americas as well as globally. This article examines the development and design of each of the main initiatives in this issue area. It analyses the different ways in which the problems have been framed in each agreement or programme, and the significance of linkages between them. These recent developments are judged to be substantial. Despite the regional and institutional variations, the shared normative and programmatic elements appear to be sufficient to support the development of winning global coalitions - able to establish a co-ordinated international action programme even if not actually to prevent illicit trafficking in the foreseeable future.