Facing new security policy problems in the 21. century, the humanitarian arms control has developed. The anti-personnel landmines prohibition in 1997, the small arms program in 2001 and the cluster bombs agreement in 2008 are political instruments for arms control and shall regulate the uncontrolled trade, undifferentiated use and long-term effects of their use.
These three agreements show similar characteristics and therefore lead to the conclusion of changing forms in arms control and disarmament. These forms are rooted in the end of the East-West-Conflict and the following changing security policy challenges: Forms of fragile statehood, economic underdevelopment, innerstate conflicts, terrorism and transnational organized crime call for new ways of political arms control governance.
In HSFK-Report 7/2009 „Zwischen moralischen Motiven und militärischen Interessen: Die Normentwicklung in der humanitären Rüstungskontrolle“Simone Wisotzki ascertains indicators and reasons of the norm generation and points out the collision of interests between national security interests and humanitarian arms control.