Introduction: International Security, Armaments and Disarmament

In 2010 new challenges to peace and stability arose in a number of areas around the world, such as on the Korean peninsula, in North Africa, in the Middle East and in Central Asia. Institutions and organizations that are tasked with mitigating instability and other threats at global and regional levels continued to struggle to redefine their mandates and generate necessary resources to meet them. The burdens of a growing debt crisis in Europe and the persistent economic and financial challenges in the United States constrained the ability of some of the most prosperous countries to respond to global challenges. In particular, non-state actors influenced the international security scene more, and more strongly.