The Prospects for Naval Arms Control: A Bad Idea Whose Time Has Come?

Abstract

This paper assesses the contemporary prospects for naval arms control based on two principal contentions. (1) The political framework of the present arms control environment makes consideration of naval issues virtually certain. The notion that there should be naval arms control is widespread and will probably prove politically compelling if the overall arms control regime continues to develop. (2) The substantive naval issues amenable to negotiation within the prevailing balance are few, but those few are important. Therefore, a position of continuing U.S. Navy resistance to consideration of the subject of naval arms control is not tenable, and may be counterproductive. The Navy has two options for a constructive approach to arms control. One option is to take the initiative on 'soft' issues such as scheduling annual meetings of senior naval officials of the two sides to discuss issues without commitment to negotiate. A second option focuses on the limited range of 'hard' naval arms control issues, sea-launched cruise missiles, tactical naval nuclear weapons, attack submarines and related force questions. Keywords: Balance of power.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 30, 1990
Accession Number
ADA228688

Entities

People

  • B. T. Trout

Organizations

  • Naval War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Arms Control
  • Eastern Europe
  • Employment
  • Foreign Policy
  • International Law
  • International Security
  • Military Operations
  • Naval Operations
  • Naval Vessels
  • Naval Warfare
  • Navy
  • North America
  • Personnel Management
  • Strategic Weapons
  • United States
  • War Colleges

Readers

  • East Asian Political and Security Studies within the Soviet Union
  • Nuclear Non-Proliferation and International Security
  • Systems Analysis and Design