Countering the proliferation and use of chemical,biological and nuclear weapons—collectively known asweapons (and materials) of mass destruction (WMD)—is a priority of utmost importance to maintaining internationalpeace and stability in the 21st century. The endof the cold war coupled with the intense processes ofongoing globalization have created new opportunitiesfor international cooperation, engagement andexchange. But they have also created conditions thatgive rise to novel security challenges, which threatento undermine the coherence of the international WMDnon-proliferation and disarmament regimes. Criticalunderlying factors for this trend include the changingnature of armed conflict, the rapid progress of scienceand technology, and the growing global diffusionof capabilities with multiple adaptive uses.1 Themultifaceted nature of novel security concerns relatedto WMD knowledge and materials calls for broadening