This report is an outgrowth of the international symposium, 'Towards a comprehensive system of international security', held in Moscow from 28 November to 1 December 1988 under the co-sponsorship of four organizations: (a) the USSR Academy of Sciences (Moscow); (b) the Inter-national Peace Research Institute Oslo; (c) the United Nations Environment Programme (Nairobi); and (d) the Ecoforum for Peace (Sofia). The symposium was financed by the PRIO/UNEP Programme on 'Military activities and the human environment'.