In this compact yet comprehensive volume, Frederic Pearson surveys the broad terrain covered by the concept of "the security dilemma" and points out landmarks along the route proceeding from arms proliferation to economic interests. The author meticulously describes and documents the "arms supermarket": who buys weapons, who sells them, where they are produced, and how they are - and are not - used.

Through a combination of data, anecdotes, illustrations, and narration accompanied by special feature boxes, we see how arms races are mounted and how they might be defused in this, the gathering post-cold war order.

Governments of developed and developing countries alike talk about arms control but often fail to act in curtailing arms trade and transfers. Nowhere is the paradox of the "sovereign right to arm" more apparent than in current hot spots detailed by Pearson, including the Balkans, the former Soviet Union, Iraq, North Korea, and South Asia.

We see an array of arms trends played out to devastating effect: sanctions, embargoes, multilateral trade and negotiations, smuggling, black and gray markets, "arms balancing," and, ultimately, proliferation and escalation cycles. Potential escape routes from weapons dilemmas also are offered in full review of arms transfer controls.

. Students of international relations from peace studies to security and political economy studies will join industry and government professionals as well as general readers in finding this balanced primer indispensable to understanding the past and future global arsenal.