Contrary to widespread belief, areas of armed conflict are not the main scene of armed violence and its devastating effects. While conflict hotspots like civil wars and military interventions attract global attention, other forms of armed violence often place far greater strains on societies, incurring devastating costs for individuals, communities, and economies as a whole.

Adopted on 2 April 2013 by an overwhelming majority of states in the UN General Assembly, the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is a milestone in the global regulation of the arms trade, but is not without its flaws. Small Arms Survey senior researchers Glenn McDonald and Sarah Parker, both participants in the treaty negotiations, discuss the development of the ATT, and the strengths and weaknesses of the final result.

South Africa is severely affected by the impacts and costs of armed violence, and has one of the highest rates of lethal violence against women. South African authorities and civil society have long been active in tackling this situation, and their efforts have resulted in some of the most comprehensive gun control legislation. Natalie Jaynes, Small Arms Survey researcher and author of a chapter on South Africa in the upcoming Small Arms Survey 2013: Everyday Dangers, discusses current challenges and further steps towards improvement.

Each year the Small Arms Survey yearbook presents several chapters update specific recurring themes. In the second instalment of the podcast on this year's edition, Small Arms Survey 2013: Everyday Dangers, Yearbook Coordinator Glenn McDonald introduces the chapters on international regulation of small arms, demilitarization, and improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

Controlling Small Arms: Consolidation, Innovation and Relevance in Research and Policy is a new book from the Small Arms Survey, published by Routledge, which maps out the evolution of our knowledge on small arms issues, and discusses practical implementation of programmes and processes, both at the national level and globally.

In the second installment of this two-part podcast discussing the book Controlling Small Arms: Consolidation, Innovation and Relevance in Research and Policy, chapter authors talk about the gains made in small arms control during fifteen years of research, policy and advocacy efforts. They draw attention to several current challenges, and map out some of the ways forward for research and action.

New developments in small arms manufacturing, technology, and design pose important challenges for weapons marking, record keeping, and tracing. The Small Arms Survey has drafted a series of discussion papers to be presented at the UN First Committee on Disarmament and International Security in October 2014.

The dialogue continues on developments in weapons technology and the challenges they present for arms control. Benjamin King and Glenn McDonald explain how the modular design of weapons systems complicates weapons marking, record -keeping, and tracing. They also examine the issues raised by the conversion of replica firearms into viable weapons; and they consider how new weapons technology presents opportunities for improved stockpile management.

The Small Arms Survey 2015: Weapons and the World explores  the theme of weapons and the environment, as well as offering case studies on a range of aspects of small arms and armed violence. In the first of this two-episode podcast, Senior Researcher Khristopher Carlson and Yearbook Coordinator Glenn McDonald discuss five of the book's chapters, covering weapons and the environment, trade in weapons, and measures to regulate and control small arms.

A new report from the Small Arms Survey assesses the operational challenges facing UN panels of experts, and in particular the arms experts that sit on those panels, in their work to monitor UN arms embargoes. The report, based on interviews with sitting and former experts from panels covering embargoes in Cote d’Ivoire, DRC, Eritrea, Libya, Somalia, and Sudan, also describes methods and tools that panels are evolving to more effectively implement their mandate.