Arms Control and Nonproliferation: A Catalog of Treaties and Agreements Amy F. Woolf Specialist in Nuclear Weapons Policy Mary Beth Nikitin Specialist in Nonproliferation Paul K. Kerr Analyst in Nonproliferation March 7, 2012

Arms control and nonproliferation efforts are two of the tools that have occasionally been used to
implement U.S. national security strategy. Although some believe these tools do little to restrain
the behavior of U.S. adversaries, while doing too much to restrain U.S. military forces and
operations, many other analysts see them as an effective means to promote transparency, ease
military planning, limit forces, and protect against uncertainty and surprise. Arms control and
nonproliferation efforts have produced formal treaties and agreements, informal arrangements,
and cooperative threat reduction and monitoring mechanisms. The pace of implementation for
many of these agreements slowed during the Clinton Administration, and the Bush
Administration usually preferred unilateral or ad hoc measures to formal treaties and agreements
to address U.S. security concerns. But the Obama Administration resumed bilateral negotiations
with Russia and pledged its support for a number of multilateral arms control and
nonproliferation efforts.
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/RL33865.pdf