What to do about Soviet arms control violations

Moderator
Repository
DigitalGeorgetown
Person Interviewed
Krepon, Michael
Gaffney, Frank J.
Abstract
Examines alleged violations and the problems of verification in U.S.-Soviet arms control talks.
Description
From the Geneva Convention banning chemical weapons up through the SALT treaties, the idea of controlling the world’s armaments to prevent war was popular throughout the twentieth century. Over the course of the cold war, U.S. and Soviet efforts to limit the size of the superpowers’ respective arsenals resulted in a number of treaties. Nearly three decades of negotiations gave rise to such agreements as the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the ABM Treaty, and the SALT I and II agreements. Yet despite the well-intentioned nature of arms talks, the implementation of these agreements left a troublesome legacy. Mounting evidence of Soviet violations and problems of verification threatened to derail further proposals. Even as President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev continued with negotiations, President Reagan reported to Congress that the Soviets were cheating on existing agreements, raising security concerns and casting a shadow over the entire arms control process. In the face of charges of serious Soviet arms control violations, should the U.S. cut off further negotiations until the Soviets are in compliance with existing treaties? Host Peter Krogh sits down with Michael Krepon of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Frank Gaffney, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Forces and Arms Control Policy, to discuss charges of violations and the future of U.S.-Soviet arms control.
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Date
1986
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Subject
Location
Russia; Former Soviet Union;
Publisher
WETA-TV (Television station : Washington, D.C.)
 
Blackwell Corporation (Washington D.C.)
 
Georgetown University. School of Foreign Service
 
South Carolina Educational Television Network
 
Extent
28 min.
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