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Arms Proliferation and Control

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The U.S.-Soviet nuclear arms race ended in détente, but nuclear development efforts and WMD proliferation in India, Pakistan, North Korea, and Iran have caused geopolitical instability since the Cold War's end. RAND has applied strategic analysis to nuclear confrontation scenarios and international deterrence efforts since its earliest work on game theory, with particular focus on the roles of both diplomacy and missile defense systems in global as well as regional security.

Report
How Does North Korea Evade Sanctions?
The United Nations has imposed increasingly restrictive sanctions on North Korea after each of the six nuclear weapons tests that it conducted between 2009 and 2016. Enforcement has been mixed, and North Korea has become adept at several techniques to evade sanctions.
Sep 23, 2021
Content
Where Russia Markets and Sells Advanced Conventional Weapons
Russia uses arms exports to further relations with other countries, influence their political and military leaders, and further its broader foreign and defense policy goals. A series of maps show the extent of its marketing, negotiating, and sales of key weapons systems.
Jun 11, 2021

Explore Arms Proliferation and Control

Report
The Days After a Deal with Iran: U.S. Policies of Hedging and Engaging
Is the emerging consensus on a set of policies toward Iran and U.S. regional partners the best approach? Or might these policies eliminate opportunities for the United States to alter the U.S.-Iran relationship — and potentially undercut support in Iran for the agreement?
Jun 10, 2014
Multimedia
Israeli, Saudi, and Iranian Responses in the Days After a Deal With Iran: What Are the U.S. Options?
In this June 2014 Congressional Briefing, a panel of Middle East experts discuss concerns about Iran of two key U.S. partners; the internal dynamics and motivations of the Iranian government; and U.S. policy options to craft a sustainable nuclear agreement with Iran.
Jun 4, 2014
Commentary
Let's Make a Deal: Iran Edition
Washington will strive to achieve the best deal for U.S. and allied interests. Iran may not like that; after all, Khamenei may want to preserve most of Iran's nuclear-weapons capability. But his regime is simply in no position to make such maximalist demands. Iran has to lower its expectations if it wants a deal.
Jun 2, 2014
Brochure
Challenges in U.S. National Security Policy: A Festschrift Honoring Edward L. (Ted) Warner
Among Ted Warner's many notable accomplishments, perhaps the most important has been the opportunity to mentor a substantial number of exceptionally talented men and women on various aspects of U.S. and Russian defense and arms control policy.
May 13, 2014
Commentary
Too Important to Fail
Preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear weapons state would contribute to global security, and especially to the security and stability of the Middle East, but these are not the only considerations at hand.
Apr 18, 2014
Multimedia
The Days After a Deal: Iran, Its Neighbors, and U.S. Policy Following a Nuclear Agreement
On April 3, 2014, the RAND Corporation held a half-day conference in its Washington office addressing
Apr 17, 2014
Report
The Days After a Deal with Iran
What might the Middle East and U.S. policy look like in the days after a deal with Iran? Experts posit that a final nuclear agreement is reached with Iran and then examine the potential responses of two U.S. partners in the region: Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Apr 17, 2014
Report
Armed and Dangerous? UAVs and U.S. Security
While armed drones are not truly transformative weapons, they do offer the United States some significant advantages, particularly against enemies that lack air defenses. How the United States uses these weapons today and into the future will be important in shaping a broader set of international norms that discourage their misuse by others.
Apr 7, 2014
Blog
RAND Conference: Iran in the Days After a Nuclear Deal
Expressing optimism that a deal to end Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons could succeed, experts said during a panel discussion at RAND that such an agreement could open the door to a new era for Iran, free of international sanctions but still cautious of relations with the U.S.
Apr 3, 2014
Multimedia
Navigating Turmoil in the Middle East
Listen in on this joint RAND-Wilson Center panel discussion on new and ongoing U.S. foreign policy challenges in the Middle East.
Mar 18, 2014
Report
Penaid Nonproliferation: Hindering the Spread of Countermeasures Against Ballistic Missile Defenses
An attacker's missile-borne countermeasures to ballistic missile defenses are known as penetration aids, or penaids. This research recommends export controls on penaid-related items under the Missile Technology Control Regime.
Feb 26, 2014
Commentary
America's New Missile Gap
With the end of the Cold War, the U.S. military refocused on the non-nuclear realm. In most cases, military professionals moved seamlessly into this realm, but the land-based missileers lacked the option to shift their focus.
Feb 25, 2014
Commentary
The Geneva Blame Game
Iran and the P5+1 (the U.S., Britain, France, China, and Russia plus Germany) came tantalizingly close to reaching a nuclear deal this past weekend in Geneva, but the talks ended without an agreement. Although both Iran and the United States expressed optimism that much was achieved, a blame game between the different players soon ensued.
Nov 15, 2013
Commentary
A Different Israeli Take on Iran
An agreement did not come out of last week's talks. But when the participants resume negotiations later this month, they should keep one thing in mind: Not all Israelis are as alarmed about a potential deal as Netanyahu. Despite Netanyahu's hard line, many Israelis believe diplomacy can work.
Nov 12, 2013
Commentary
Pause on Additional Iran Sanctions Crucial to Negotiations
The Nov. 7–8 negotiations between Iran and six world powers (the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, China and Germany) could prove to be a critical point in the Iranian nuclear crisis. New sanctions under consideration by Congress could lead to a weakening of the overall U.S. position.
Nov 6, 2013
Commentary
Zero-Sum Enrichment
Sanctions have taken a heavy toll on the Iranian economy, and the Islamic Republic may finally be motivated to take steps to rein in its nuclear program, including accepting limits on uranium enrichment, in exchange for lessening the pressure.
Oct 14, 2013
Commentary
Libya Needs Outside Help to Avoid Perpetual War
If steps are not taken to get control of security, there is little hope for Libya's future. Qaddafi's fateful warning that Libya would become a “Somalia on the Mediterranean” without him could come true. The investment that NATO and its partners made in toppling Qaddafi would then be almost entirely wasted.
Oct 11, 2013
Blog
Lynn Davis Interviews Eric Schlosser on Book TV
As a guest host of Book TV's “After Words,” Lynn Davis spoke to Eric Schlosser about his latest book, Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety.
Oct 1, 2013
Commentary
Obama Should Take Iran's Overture Seriously
If his words are any guide, Iran's supreme leader is pivoting to diplomacy. Long an advocate of “resistance” to the United States, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei now praises his new president, Hassan Rouhani, for his administration's “heroic” and “artful” approach toward foreign policy.
Sep 22, 2013
Blog
North Korea's Coming Collapse
The North Korean government could collapse at any time, setting off a humanitarian disaster of historic proportions, RAND senior defense analyst Bruce Bennett told a gathering of journalists in Washington.
Sep 20, 2013

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RAND Topic:
Arms Proliferation and Control

Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Samuel Charap

Senior Political Scientist

Samuel Charap is a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation. His research interests include the foreign policies of Russia and the former Soviet states; European and Eurasian regional security; and U.S.-Russia deterrence, strategic stability, and arms control.
William Courtney

Adjunct Senior Fellow

William Courtney is an adjunct senior fellow at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation, and was executive director of the RAND Business Leaders Forum. He cochairs the international advisory council of the America250 Foundation, the nonprofit executive arm of the U.S. Semiquincentennial…

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