the arms-control fold

[GoodTaste]

Does "fold" here mean "an organization where you feel you belong"?


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These types of missile are the very assets that the United States and Russia could not possess under the INF treaty. For China, they are key to being able to compete with the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. It is because of these that the United States, keen to protect its superiority in the region, wishes to bring China into the arms-control fold.


So, in June this year, the United States invited China to attend its discussions with Russia in Vienna about what will replace New START.

Source: Nature
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02282-9

 

[Rover_KE]

Yes.

 

[GoesStation]

I'd say "group", not "organization".

 

[Tarheel]

I wouldn't use the words "where you feel you belong".

The concern is that China is developing arms that America and Russia are denying to themselves. This gives rise to fears of a new arms race.

 

[PeterCW]

The original definition of a "fold" is a pen where sheep are gathered for safety.
There is an English folk song about a shepherd going out onto the hills in a storm to keep his sheep safe by bringing them into the fold.

I think the simile should be obvious once you understand that.

 

[Skrej]

See noun 2 definition 1a. Note in particular the example sentence for that definition.