Security Considerations and Verification of a Central American Arms Control Regime

摘要

The paper discusses the background to, likely contexts of, and likely difficulties with the verification of a possible Central American arms control regime. It begins with a brief geographic, political and military overview of the regional crisis, setting the stage for the discussion to follow. Further chapters offer an analysis of the relative threat perceptions of the individual Central American states, the potential for a revision of those threat perceptions based upon a number of factors, including the terrain, the offensive and defensive weapons mix and political factors. It then proposes one possible arms control regime for the region, followed by a more in-depth discussion of what would actually have to be verified under such a regime, how the verifying might in fact be carried out, and who might best do it.