Master Lecturer
Political Science & Geography

Aaron Karp

757-683-3848

7006 BATTEN ARTS & LETTERS
NORFOLK, 23529

Aaron Karp is senior lecturer in political science at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. He also is senior consultant to the Small Arms Survey in Geneva.
His early research contributed to creation of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). As a consultant to the UN Secretary-General he was principal author of the Report of the United Nations Secretary-General on South African Nuclear Weapons, which helped lead to creation of the African Nuclear Weapons Free Zone in 1996. In 1998 he was an expert advisor to the U.S. Commission to Assess Ballistic Missile Threats to the United States (the Rumsfeld Commission). As Consultant to the UN Secretary-General, he also co-authored the Secretary-General's Study on Missiles.
From 2005-2016 he was co-editor of the journal Contemporary Security Policy. His books include Ballistic Missile Proliferation (Oxford, 1996), Global Insurgency and the Future of Armed Conflict (Routledge, 2007), Inconspicuous Disarmament (Taylor & Francis, 2009), and Firearms (UN Office on Drugs and Crime, 2015).

M.Phil. in Political Science, Columbia University, (1983)

M.A. in Political Science, Columbia University, (1982)

B.A. in German, History, and Political Science, Drury College, (1980)

Research Interests

International security, armed conflict and weapons proliferation.

Articles

Karp, A. (2018). Estimating Global Civilian-Held Firearms Numbers. Small Arms Survey 2018 (June) , pp. 12.
Karp, A. (2018). Estimating Global Law Enforcement Firearms Numbers. Small Arm Survey 2018 (June) , pp. 12.
Karp, A. (2018). Estimating Global Military-Owned Firearms Numbers. Small Arms Survey 2018 (June) , pp. 12.
Karp, A. (2017). Putting Guns Away for Good: Can Japan Eliminate Civilian Firearms?. Asia and the Pacific Policy Society.
Karp, A. (2016). Will India's Next Light Fighter Be From Sweden?. The Diplomat.
Karp, A. (2012). Stemming the Spread of Missiles: Hits, Misses, and Hard Cases. Arms Control Today 42 (3) , pp. 8.
Karp, A. (2009). The changing ownership of war: states, insurgencies and technology. Contemporary Security Policy 30 (2) , pp. 375–394.
Karp, A. (2008). Introduction: Inconspicuous Disarmament. Contemporary Security Policy 29 (1) , pp. 2–14.
Griffiths, H. and Karp, A. (2008). Ukraine: coping with post-Soviet legacies. Contemporary Security Policy 29 (1) , pp. 202–228.
Karp, A. (2006). Escaping reuterswärd’s shadow. Contemporary Security Policy 27 (01) , pp. 12–28.
Karp, A. (2005). Going Ballistic? Reversing Missile Proliferation. Arms Control Today 35 (5) , pp. 6.
Karp, A. (2004). The new indeterminacy of deterrence and missile defence. Contemporary Security Policy 25 (1) , pp. 71–87.
Karp, A. (2002). Laudable failure. SAIS Review 22 (1) , pp. 177–193.
Karp, A. (2002). Small Arms: Back to the Future. The Brown Journal of World Affairs 9 (1) , pp. 179–191.
Karp, A. (2001). Bringing Enemies Back In: Competitive Strategies from the Cold War to Nonproliferation. COMPARATIVE STRATEGY 20 (1) , pp. 91–96.
Karp, A. (2001). Small arms and the limits of international consensus. Conflict, Security & Development 1 (02) , pp. 137–143.
Karp, A. (2001). The proliferation of small arms and the decline of sovereignty. Contemporary Security Policy 21 (2).
Karp, A. (2000). Negotiating Small Arms Restraint: The Boldest Frontier For Disarmament?.
Karp, A. (2000). The spread of ballistic missiles and the transformation of global security. The Nonproliferation Review 7 (3) , pp. 106–122.
Karp, A. (1999). Uncertain prognosis. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 55 (1) , pp. 66–69.
Karp, A. (1996). The new politics of missile proliferation. Arms Control Today 26 (8) , pp. 10.
Karp, A. (1995). Ballistic missiles in the Middle East: Realities, omens and arms control options. Contemporary Security Policy 16 (1) , pp. 111–129.
Karp, A. (1995). The new major weapons. Ploughshares Monitor , pp. 17-20.
Karp, A. (1994). The arms trade revolution: the major impact of small arms. Washington Quarterly 17 (4) , pp. 65–77.
Karp, A. (1994). The rise of black and gray markets. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 535 (1) , pp. 175–189.
Karp, A. (1993). Arming Ethnic Conflict. Arms Control Today , pp. 8–13.
Karp, A. (1993). Controlling weapons proliferation: The role of export controls. The Journal of Strategic Studies 16 (1) , pp. 18–45.
Karp, A. and Karp, R. (1993). Resor utan mål? Freds- och säkerhetspolitisk forskning inför framtiden. Internationella Studier (2) , pp. 63 80.
Karp, A. (1992). Die Kontrolle von Ruestungsproliferation in den Neunziger Jahren die Rolle von Export Controllen . Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik.
Karp, A. (1991). Controlling ballistic missile proliferation. Survival 33 (6) , pp. 517–530.
Karp, A. (1990). South Africa's Nuclear Weapons and Ballistic Missile Capability. United Nations.
Karp, A. (1988). The frantic Third World quest for ballistic missiles. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 44 (5) , pp. 14–20.
Karp, A. (1987). Blowpipes and Stingers in Afghanistan: One Year Later. Armed Forces Journal International 125 , pp. 36–40.
Karp, A. (1986). Space technology in the third world: Commercialization and the spread of ballistic missiles. Space Policy 2 (2) , pp. 157–168.
Karp, A. (1984). Ballistic missiles in the Third World. International Security 9 (3) , pp. 166–195.

Books

Karp, A. (2023). Caribbean Weapons Compass: Caribbean Firearms Study. Small Arms Survey.
Karp, A. (2015). UNODC Study on Firearms 2015. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
Karp, A. (2015). Study on Firearms. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
Karp, A. (2014). The politics of destroying surplus small arms: inconspicuous disarmament. Routledge.
Karp, A. (2014). Winning UN Simulations: Everything You Need to Know About Model UN. ODU Model United Nations Society.
Karp, A., Karp, R., Terriff, T. and others (2010). Global Insurgency and the Future of Armed Conflict: Debating fourth-generation warfare. Routledge.
Karp, A. (1996). Ballistic Missile Proliferation: The Politics and Technics. Oxford University Press.
Karp, A. (1990). The United States and the Soviet Union and the control of ballistic missile proliferation to the Middle East. Westview Press.

Book Chapters

Karp, A. (2013). Arms transfers Global Social Issues M. E. Sharpe.
Karp, A. (2009). The Global Small Arms Industry: Transformed by War and Society The Modern Defense Industry: Political, Economic and Technological Issues Praeger.
Karp, A. (2006). The new indeterminacy of deterrence and missile defense Deterrence and the New Global Security Environment (pp. 63-81) Oxford: Routledge.
Karp, A. (2005). The impact of Japanese missile defenses on global security Changing Security Dynamic in Eastern Asia (pp. 298-314) New Delhi: Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.
Karp, A. (2003). Dunblane and the international politics of gun control Policy and peacemaking (pp. Ch.8) Lexington Books.
Karp, A. (2001). The implications of Missile proliferation in the Middle East International Perspectives on Missile Proliferation and Defenses (pp. 53-60) Monterey, California: Monterey Institute for International Studies.
Karp, A. (1998). The MTCR, the post-modern state, and deterrence Missile Development and its Impact on Global Security (pp. 38-46) New York: Department of Disarmament Affairs, United Nations.
Karp, A. (1995). Ballistic missiles in the Middle East: realities, omens and arms control options Middle Eastern Security: Prospects for an Arms Control Regime Frank Cass.
Karp, A. (1995). Small arms the new major weapons Lethal Commerce: the Global Trade in Small and Light Weapons (pp. Ch.1) Cambridge, Massachusetts: American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Karp, A. (1995). The arms trade revolution: the major significance of small arms Weapons Proliferation in the 1990s (pp. Ch.3) Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.
Karp, A. (1995). The hidden realities of arms trade policy-making Conventional Arms Trade Restraint in the 1990s Washington, DC: Center for Defense Information.
Karp, A. (1995). Trends in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction Arms and Technology Transfers: Security and Economic Considerations Among Importing and Exporting States (pp. 7-18, 92, 142) Geneva: United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research.
Karp, A. (1994). The maturation of ballistic missile proliferation The International Missile Bazaar (pp. Ch.1) Boulder: Westview.
Karp, A. (1993). Ballistic missile control Arms Control in the Post Cold War World: With Implications for Asia/Pacific (pp. Ch.10) Canberra: The Australian National University.
Karp, A. (1993). Die Kontrolle von Ruestungsproliferation in den Neunziger Jahren die Rolle von Export Controllen Internationales Umfeld, Sicherheitsinteressen und nationale Planung der Bundesrepublic, vol. 8 (pp. Ch.7) Ebenhausen, Germany: Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik.
Karp, A. (1993). Missile proliferation in the third world Internationales Umfeld, Sicherheitsinteressen und nationale Planung der Bundesrepublik, vol.4 (pp. Ch.11) Ebenhausen : Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik.
Karp, A. (1992). Ballistic missile proliferation and the MTCR Limiting the Proliferation of Weapons: the Role of Supply Side Strategies (pp. Ch.7) Ottawa: Carleton University Press.
Karp, A. and Scheffran, J. (1992). The national implementation of the Missile Technology Control Regime: the America and German experiences Controlling the Development and Spread of Military Technology (pp. Ch.18) Amsterdam: VU University Press.
Karp, A. (1991). The impact of ballistic missile proliferation in the Asia/Pacific region Chemical Weapons and Missile Proliferation: With Implications for the Asia/Pacific Region (pp. Ch.5) Boulder: Lynne Rienner.
Karp, A. (1990). Ballistic missile proliferation Sipri Yearbook 1990 (pp. Ch.9) Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Karp, A. (1989). Ballistic missile proliferation in the third world Sipri Yearbook 1990 (pp. Ch.7) Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Karp, A. (1989). Missile proliferation in the third world Strategic Survey 1988-1989 (pp. 14-25) London: International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Karp, A. (1988). Arms control and disarmament Issues Before the 42nd General Assembly of the United Nations (pp. Ch.2) Lexington: Lexington Books.
Karp, A. (1988). The trade in major conventional weapons Sipri Yearbook 1988 (pp. Ch.7) Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Karp, A. (1987). Arms control and disarmament Issues Before the 41st General Assembly of the United Nations (pp. Ch.2) Lexington: Lexington Books.
Karp, A. (1987). The commercialization of space technology and the spread of ballistic missiles International Space Policy (pp. Ch.10) New York: Quorum Books.
Karp, A. (1984). Arms control and disarmament Issues Before the 39th General Assembly of the United Nations (pp. Ch.2) New York: United Nations Association.
Karp, A. (1983). Arms control and disarmament Issues Before the 38th General Assembly of the United Nations (pp. Ch.2) New York: United Nations Association.
  • 2021: ODU Robert L. Stern Award for Excellence in Teaching,
  • 2017: ODU Master Teacher,
  • 2016: ODU Advisor of the Year,
  • 2014: University Distinguished Teacher,
  • 2012: ODU Advisor of the Year,
  • 2005: Distinguished Adjunct Faculty,

Organizational Chart