Based on the assumption that further proliferation of nuclear weapons will jeopardize international peace and stability, the ways and means for restraining proliferation of nuclear weapons are extensively researched. The research is conducted at state level. The framework of international efforts for stopping the spread of nuclear weapons is identified as the n u clear n on -proliferation regim e. In that respect, the International Regimes Theory is exploited to a certain extent. The basic premises of the regimes theory furnished the necessary insights about the concepts of international regime formation, regime maintenance, and regime effectiveness. Hence, these concepts have then formed the background of the proposals for increasing the strength of the non-proliferation regime. The degree of effectiveness of the nuclear non-proliferation regime in inhibiting states from going nuclear is observed to have largely depended on the attitudes of the states that participated in the international negotiations which aimed at establishing the fundamental stones of the regime (e.g., the IAEA Statute, the NPT and the related IAEA safeguards document INFCIRC/153 ). Emergence and evolution of these elements of the non-proliferation regime are investigated, and the loopholes and shortcomings that came into view in practice are determined. Despite the fact that an overwhelming majority of states have joined the ranks of international collaboration for halting the further spread of nuclear weapons, a group of states (hold-outs) have opted to stay far from the nuclear non-proliferation regime by putting forward numerous arguments, and went on to manufacture nuclear explosives. Likelihood of an increase in the number of such states in the short and medium terms (unless appropriate measures are taken to strengthen the regime) necessitated a research about various regional and bilateral nuclear restraint arrangements that would prove feasible for associating the hold-outs with the principles, norms, rules, as well as the decision-making procedures of the non-proliferation regime. Regarding the recent developments in world affairs, measures are suggested to amplify the usefulness and the effectiveness of the essential elements of the nuclear non-proliferation regime. Moreover, measures with regard to several other issues that are not generally considered among these mainstays of the non-proliferation regime, but which are believed by the author to have an impact on the future performance of the regime, are also incorporated into the research.