The importance of the emigration level as a key control variable for the disarmament process is discussed and confirmed. The mathematical formulation of the optimal control of disarmament leads to the problem of the optimal time control for a system described by the two Richardson linear differential equations. The problem is readily resolved by means of the Pontriagin maximum principle. An illustrative example is presented which clearly shows that arms levels cannot be used as control variables; this explains the permanent failure of talks on the reduction of arms. Moreover, it shows where to look for ways of actual peace strengthening based on disarmament.
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