The study recognizes that the promotion of transparency in the internationa trnsfer of conventional arms is not a goal in itself but a means to serve other purposes: it is one element in the wider context of confidence-building measures, arms limitation and disarment. To this end, the dtudy adds, transparency can contrinute to the building of confidence and security, the reduction of suspicions, mistrust and fear, and the timely identification of trends in arms transfers. In such wasy, transparency measures can promote and cafilitate the introduction of unilaterial or multilateral measures of restraint.