WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION TO BE DISCUSSED AT DEC. 3 SESSION

The Center for Regional and Global Study will host a "Global Issues Presentation" titled "The New Weapons of Mass Destruction" at 12:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 3 in room 921 of the Batten Arts and Letters Building.

The presentation features Aaron Karp, an adjunct instructor in political science at Old Dominion University and a senior consultant to the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey and consultant to the United Nations' Secretary-General on proliferation Issues.

In July 2001 the United Nations held its first major disarmament conference in a decade. To the surprise of many, this concentrated not on nuclear or state-of-the-art weapons, but on the issue of small arms. Responsible for more than 90 percent of all death in warfare (over 300,000 annually) small arms -- ranging from guns to simple rocket launchers -- are the real weapons of mass destruction. Even so, the UN Small Arms Conference was anything but a major success, leaving enormous cloud of doubt and uncertainty.

The free session will explore the following questions: Why are small arms so difficult for the international community to deal with? What do they reveal about the problems of international security and policy-making in the 21st century?

For more information call 683-5700.