Counterforce Deadlock: Are Arms Control Agreements Still Possible?

Abstract

The collapse of INF, START, and MBFR talks in December 1983 brought arms control negotiations to a complete stop and injected a chill into relations between the superpowers. In examining the record of talks, the author finds that previous SALT talks had been motivated by a desire to put caps on the other side's force development, in an effort to simplify its own budget planning. Destabilizing technologies in pursuit of counterforce strategies are increasingly making treaty verification uncertain. With both the U.S. and Soviet Union determined to make significant reductions in intercontinental and theater nuclear forces, a new perspective must be found to structure the talks. The author proposes a minimum countervalue posture providing both sides' security needs. A review of negotiating problems concludes this paper.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 15, 1984
Accession Number
ADA148872

Entities

People

  • F. H. Carde

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Anti-Satellite Missiles
  • Arms Control
  • Artillery
  • Ballistic Missile Submarines
  • Department Of Defense
  • Governments
  • Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles
  • Intergovernmental Organizations
  • International Organizations
  • International Relations
  • International Security
  • Military Organizations
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • Negotiations
  • Treaties
  • War Colleges

Readers

  • Applied Combinatorial Optimization and Logic Circuit Design.
  • European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP).
  • Strategic Security Studies