Regional disarmament and confidence- and security-building measures

Efforts aimed at regional arms limitation are receiving increasing attention at both the global and the regional levels. The possibility of regional approaches to disarmament has received considerable attention over the years and has been viewed as one way to contribute towards general and complete disarmament on a global basis. In the context of regional disarmament efforts, particularly in Europe, the concept of confidence- building measures has played an important role. Such measures are intended to encourage the development of trust and more stable relations between Slates by reducing or even eliminating the causes of mistrust, fear and other factors contributing to tensions and the danger of conflict between nations, and to high and increasing levels of armaments and forces. It is generally accepted that confidence-building measures should facilitate and promote the process of arms limitation and disarmament but should not be a substitute or a precondition for disarmament steps, or divert attention from them.