International Security in a NWFW

This chapter addresses some of the problems, in the hope of advancing a little the discussion of international security in a nuclear-weapon-free world (NWFW). The problems of a NWFW can be divided into two categories: those which concern the coercive aspects of a NWFW–verification and a mobile intervention force–and those which can create the appropriate international setting and climate. Problems and proposals relating to international security in a NWFW are surely not exhaustive, but they are pertinent. New experience suggests that international verification, as practised by the International Atomic Energy Agency, can at most serve as a useful back-up to regional verification, as embodied in Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones. Under the circumstances, it is difficult to inculcate the overwhelming interest all states should have in eliminating the scourge of war. This will take time, but two approaches commend themselves: the organizational and the educational approach.