In person icon Governing Small Arms – National, Regional and International Dynamics in a Globalised World

Abstract

This panel examines the governance of small arms (firearms such as pistols or assault rifles) in a globalized environment. Small arms flow across the world, either as state authorized transfers or via illicit trafficking. Governments generally attempt to regulate possession in order to reduce violence and prevent crime. The panel focuses on a variety of means by which states attempt to govern possession and transfers of small arms. Both Greene and Marsh focus upon states in the developing world and examine the complex choices and dynamics which frequently involve the state cooperating or forming truces with some armed actors, and fighting others. Marsh examines how the state regulates weapons when it does not enjoy a Weberian monopoly of legitimate violence. Greene focuses upon state resilience and what occurs when it attempts to crack down on previously tolerated forms of violence. Three papers look at how states cooperate to exert control over small arms flows and holdings. Duquet and Van Alstein examine an actor based in a region in which for the most part there are real state monopolies of legitimate violence. In their paper they focus upon the European Union’s development of a common legal framework, enhancing cross-national operational cooperation and stimulating intelligence sharing. Jitts focuses upon how states cooperate to govern weapons stocks and flows, and compares the formation of regional and other international agreements on small arms. Finally, Holtom focuses upon what is mostly a relationship between developed and developing countries when he examines flows of arms from the exporter to conflict prone states, and how that trade should be governed. In all, the five papers presented in this panel examine how very different states and international organizations, strong and fragile, manage the global problem of small arms proliferation, alone or in concert.

Title	Details
Governance of Small Arms in the Absence of a State Monopoly of Legitimate Violence	View Paper Details
Small Arms, Armed Violence and Governance in Fragile and 'Seriously Affected' States	View Paper Details
EU Strategy to Tackle Illicit Acquisition of Firearms	View Paper Details
Don’t Mention the War: Law, Politics and Small Arms Controls	View Paper Details
Arms Flows to Fragile States: Reducing the Risks of Conflict and Instability	View Paper Details