Disarmament is often judged to be very favourable for economic development, but it brings with it a destruction of the old economic as well as social equilibrium. For an economy that is in transition as well as in recession, disarmament constitutes a political decision of considerable importance for the international community. Because economic development is certainly a condition for peace, it is important for the world community to realise that it is necessary to actually “purchase” disarmament, independent of economic conditions based on competition.