With the reductions of global military expenditure in recent years and the end of the East–West arms race, major opportunities for conversion exists. Conversion is often looked at as a narrow problem of retooling arms factories for civilian production. In fact, the reduction in military activity that resulted from the end of the cold war has many more facets. Conversion, if broadly defined, can contribute to the goals of the Social Summit in a number of ways. Here, in addition to proposing the application of a comprehensive and broadened concept of conversion, four interrelated aspects were highlighted: financial resources from disarmament and their distribution, the management of this process, the role of science and scientists in conversion, and the link between conversion and security.