Introduction Ten years ago the cold war ended. It did not bring about an anticipated “peace dividend.” To the contrary, with more than six million people killed during the past “decade of peace,” more people are at risk today from violence than ever before. None of these people were killed by what has been termed “weapons of mass destruction.” Most were killed by small arms and light weapons. Society is becoming militarized and de-humanized. With societal values in transition, there has been a complete elimination of the well-recognized distinction between combatants on the one hand and non-combatants on the other, in regard to the question as to whom it is permissible to attack. Indeed decimation of the opponent’s civilian population has become an essential strategy of modern warfare. As Salim Ahmed Salim, the Secretary-General of the OAU and a most distinguished and active member of the Eminent Persons Group has stated: “The excessive and uncontrolled accumulation and circulation of small arms and light weapons has become a threat to peace processes and human security alike. This phenomenon knows no borders and affects the developed as well as developing communities.” A “culture of violence,” which is part of a global “security malaise,” is a major problem in the effort to stem the humanitarian toll of small arms proliferation. This is the core of the problem. Another obstacle confronting efforts to curtail the proliferation of small arms is worldwide excess production. Therefore, cooperation between supplier and recipient states is called for. With public sentiment beginning to be aroused by the carnage of small arms violence the world over, the adverse developments of the decade past can be reversed. The tide has begun to turn. For side by side with recent conflicts, there has been a remarkable emergence of conflict reduction programmes. The concept of “conflict prevention” has emerged and taken root. Moreover, the concept of “preventive deployment of peacekeepers” has merged and has been successfully practiced. Perhaps, at last, multilateralism is no longer merely a conceptual framework for the mosaic of international politics but has, instead, become a distinct multi-dimensional area of joint action. With respect to collective security it suggetss that a new internationalism is burgeoning in the conscienceness of the world community, which presupposes reliance on consensus, joint endeavors to maintain collective security by curtailing the proliferation of smallarms and other weapons of mass destruction, and the primacy of international law. Although the quest for a global resolution to small arms proliferation must not stand in the way of regional agreements, where atainable, the overall interdependence between nonproliferation and disarmament mandates a global approach. In presenting the Millenium Report, which will be deliberated upon at the Millennium Summit of the 55th UN General Assembly, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has devoted considerable effort on curtailing the proliferation of small arms and the elimination of nuclear weapons. As Mr. Annan makes clear, both topics are directly linked, as far-reaching nuclear disarmament will probably not be feasible unless the level of armed violence in general is significantly lowered. A global reduction in small arms violence, as the Millenium Report states, requires “to bring the weapons of violence back into the control of the state, with the state being made accountable for their transfer.” This essentially means, as the UN Secretary-General and Michel Rocard, the EPG co-chair, discussed during our meeting of February 29, empowering the state at one level, and using all tools available to induce more responsible behavior on its part, at another. The two approaches must be mutually compatible. The UN Secretary-General is right in stating that small arms proliferation poses “one of the key challenges in preventing conflict in the new century.” In calling for a global small arms nonproliferation regime Mr. Annan has set a realistic goal for the 2001 UN Conference on Small Arms Traffcking In All Its Aspects. His bold proposal and overall visionary leadership is beginning to mobilize increasing pressures for small arms action. It is promoting the formation of an expanding coalition of member States in support of an evolving programme of porposals for small arms control. In preparation of the 2001 UN conference it is important that the momentum towards an action-oriented small arms control agenda within a set implementation timetable be harnessed.  It is with that objective in mind that, a little over a year ago, I gave in to growing demands of political friends from around the world to lend a helping hand to the UN Secretary-General’s tireless efforts on small arms control. Borrowing from the historic experience of the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group I convened EPG as an independent international commission outside the UN framework. Twenty world leaders, including the Presidents of Georgia and Mali, the Secretary-General of the OAU, the former Prime Ministers of France and India, and foreign and defense ministers of Brazil, Cameroon, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States, have joined together with leading arms control experts to make a specific contribution to the emerging global effort. Continued