A Guide on Non-Proliferation, Arms Control, and Disarmament in Italian

On 27 October 2022, VCDNP Senior Research Associate Federica Dall’Arche presented her book titled “Non-Proliferazione, Controllo degli Armamenti e Disarmo Umanitario: una breve guida pratica”. The work, commissioned by the Italian National Association of Civil War Victims, was presented to the public at the Foreign Press Association during World Disarmament Week.

Addressing the problematic scarcity of Italian-language resources on non-proliferation, arms control and disarmament, the book is a short reference guide for all who want to learn more about these issues, which continue to dominate news headlines worldwide.

Without pretence of completeness, this work tries to fill the notional gap at the Italian level by providing a starting point for further analysis and by offering a tool for practitioners in the policy field, strengthening their ability to shape political processes more effectively.

The publication is the result of qualitative interviews with experts in the field, including scholars, diplomats, ambassadors, university professors, researchers and members of civil society groups, as well as an extensive review of existing Italian and international literature on non-proliferation, arms control and disarmament.

Divided into five chapters, the book devotes the first two to the distinction between weapons of mass destruction and conventional weapons and between non-proliferation, arms control and disarmament regimes. The third chapter is dedicated to humanitarian disarmament, analysing its origins and objectives. The fourth chapter offers an overview of the Italian legislative context. The final chapter examines the implications of weapons use from a gender perspective.

The study concludes by offering recommendations for decision makers and the field at large on how to increase awareness around non-proliferation, arms control and disarmament. Recommendations include the publication of more studies to explore specific aspects of the field, such as the environmental impact of certain weapons, the role of civil society in disarmament processes, as well as ways to strengthen international humanitarian law. The study also encourages the organization of ad-hoc public events and the creation of high school and university courses on these topics.

Download the Publication (in Italian)