International control regimes

In the second half of the 20th century, the world witnessed the development of increasingly powerful and far-reaching weapons: conventional weapons, but above all nuclear, radiological, bacteriological and chemical weapons, often referred to as "weapons of mass destruction".

While the initial concern of states was to preserve their military supremacy, it soon became clear that it was imperative to prevent these weapons from falling into the hands of hostile states or "non-state" actors, and to banish some of them.

As a result, groups and organizations have been set up between states to combat the proliferation of these weapons and the dissemination of so-called "dual-use" technologies, i.e. technologies common to both...