Abstract

For many years, the major producers of arms and dual-use technologies have attempted to compensate for deficiencies in the UN non-proliferation treaty system by establishing multilateral export control regimes (MECRs) aiming to prevent an uncontrolled proliferation of these technologies.

These parallel structures, which enabled them to coordinate their policies of military equipment and sensitive technologies transfers, particularly thrived in the 90’s due to changes in the geostrategic landscape and increasing globalization.

This briefing note describes the current state of MECRs with their varying degrees of legitimacy, their similarities, their differences, and outlines the future development of these structures.