Arms Control: The End of an Era. Lecture Series Number 366.
Abstract
East-West arms control as it has been practiced until now borders on irrelevancy. The problems it set out to solve have been subject to a meta-solution that had little if anything to do with the arms control process: the collapse of the Soviet regime that for forty years propelled the arms race and kept the world on the edge of oblivion. Still, if recent events are reversed, the START Treaty could again become a document with important implications for national security. Before it is ratified, therefore, the Senate should ensure that some potentially serious issues are resolved. These include the question of who precisely are America's partners in this treaty now that the Soviet Union no longer exists, and whether all verification provisions - particularly the ban on missile test data encryption - are understood in the same way by all sides. Before taking a closer look at these issues, however, I would like to reflect on the assumptions of the Cold War era just past - the "arms control" era - and to see what lessons can be drawn for the new age before us.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 05, 1992
- Accession Number
- ADA338758
Entities
People
- Jay P. Kosminsky