Preserve Past Achievements: why Drones Should Stay within the Missile Technology Control Regime (for the Time Being)

Abstract

There are quite few relevant inter­national regimes con­trol­ling the sale and use of drones. The MTCR (Missile Tech­nology Control Regime), originally set up to re­gulate the pro­li­feration of Weapons of Mass Destruc­tion missile de­livery systems, is widely con­sidered the main in­stru­ment for limit­ing the pro­li­feration of UAVs (un­manned aerial vehicles). In 2017, the MTCR turned 30 and calls are being made for the MTCR to focus solely on "trad­itional" rockets, missiles and cruise missiles because in its current for­mu­lation it too strongly curbs the sale of UAVs. Schörnig warns against hollow­ing out the MTCR without re­placing it with a new and broader re­gime and re­commends safe­guarding the arms-control norms embedded within the MTCR.