Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty: U.S. Withdraw
The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (referred to as the "ABM Treaty" for the rest of this paper) was signed into effect by President Richard Nixon and the Soviet leader at the time, Leonid Brezhnev, in Moscow on May 26, 1972. Under this treaty, the United States and the former Soviet Union agreed to limit very sharply the development and deployment of anti-ballistic missile defense systems, and also to restrict the number and location of such systems. The purpose of signing this treaty and following its terms, for both countries, was to constrain the nuclear weapons capability arms-race that had come to define the cold-war era. This treaty was the centerpiece, as well as the principal achievement, of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (otherwise known as SALT) that took place in Moscow between Nixon and Brezhnev in 1972. The ABM treaty was of indefinite duration and both countries could amend it with mutual agreement or, if they decided to do so, withdraw from the treaty, giving the other country six months’ notice.
That six months’ notice was given by the President George W. Bush of the United States to Russia on December 15, 2001. This is the first time in recent history that the United States has withdrawn from a major international-arms treaty. Although talks had been held with the Russians on possible amendments to the treaty, the United States opted to withdraw completely in order to have an open slate for the development and deployment of anti-ballistic missile defense. Among the reasons for withdraw from the ABM treaty are the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Supporters of the withdraw cited the attacks as an example of what a seemingly small faction could do to the Unit...
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...sponsored terrorists, as well as from nuclear-capable countries, it is necessary that we have the ability to stop whatever comes our way and save the lives of thousands, if not millions, of American citizens. To do so, it was important that the new administration under George W. Bush take action to further our research and development in the area of anti-ballistic missile defense systems.
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The Cold War was a period of dark and melancholic times when the entire world lived in fear that the boiling pot may spill. The protectionist measures taken by Eisenhower kept the communists in check to suspend the progression of USSR’s radical ambitions and programs. From the suspenseful delirium from the Cold War, the United States often engaged in a dangerous policy of brinksmanship through the mid-1950s. Fortunately, these actions did not lead to a global nuclear disaster as both the US and USSR fully understood what the weapons of mass destruction were capable of.
Arms embargoes are “one type of sanctions that can be used to coerce states and non-governmental actors to improve their behaviour in the interests of international peace and security” . The prohibition of military transfers includes: provision of military aid, military cooperation, arms sales and security assistance . This essay aims to examine Dominic Tierney’s assertion whether multilateral ‘arms embargoes are both easy to introduce and difficult to lift’ . Prior to 1990, the UN introduced arms embargoes on two occasions only: against South Africa and Rhodesia . Since 1990 there have been in total 25 cases of UN mandatory arms restrictions, of which 13 remain in place. The EU is the other major embargo imposer with a total 33 cases and 20 still un-lifted . The 1990s in particular, were characterised by Cortright and Lopez as the ‘Sanctions Decade’ during which 50 multilateral sanctions were introduced, with arms embargoes being the most employed form of sanctions . Thus the statistics suggest that the UN and the EU have been more frequently resorting to arms embargoes. However, little is illustrated about the dynamics involved in issuing and removing an arms embargo.
The major factor that led to the true end of the Cold War was the ongoing personal and diplomatic relationship between Presidents George H. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev. This resulted in the reduction of the Russian military and favorable arms agreements. Key indicators of the substance behind this relationship were the Soviet troop withdrawals from Czechoslovakia, Afghanistan, and Hungary (lifting the Hungarian/Austrian “Iron Curtain” along the border). Subsequently the opening of the Berl...
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the Americans agreed to those terms and conditions. With that this chapter of the Cold War came
Failure of the Détente Between the Superpowers The French word ‘détente’, which the Oxford English Dictionary describes as “the easing of strained relations, especially in a political situation” (www.oed.com), first appeared in this context when a German newspaper used it to describe the visit of a British monarch at the beginning of the 20th century (Froman, 1991). In this essay, I will attempt to explain the cold war détente between the superpowers of the USA and the USSR in the 1970’s, concentrating first on its positive developments between 1971 and 1973 and then on the events that lead to its ultimate failure, symbolised by the soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. The first real steps of relaxation of tensions were taken with the Moscow summit and the signing of the SALT 1 (Strategic Arms Limitations Talks) agreement in May 1972. The SALT agreement was a staring point for attempts to control nuclear arms, to restrict the impact and spread of nuclear weapons and to secure a balance due to ‘Mutual Assured Destruction’ (the notion that a nuclear attack from one side would lead to a retaliation from the other and therefore both sides would be greatly damaged) between the two superpowers and were to be followed up by further arms limitations talks within the next five years (Kent and Young, 2004). Also, agreements were reached on lowering the risk of accidental confrontation and on cooperation in science, health and environmental issues.
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Site. 1999. The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'S “Cold War.” The Concise Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Third Edition. 1994: Columbia University Press.
We were already in a cold war, not knowing wither if these missiles were going to go off it made people panic. Yet, Kennedy took it upon himself to, to assured us that we needed to take precautionary measure. Kennedy could have said, don’t worry, or nothing at all. Instead, he let us in and let us knows what was up because this crisis involved us, the nation, that involves everybody. After a long wait, the crisis ended peacefully with a deal was made to make sure that Soviets agreed to get rid of their missile if the US, go rid of their own missiles in turkey (it is only fair). This is the agreement that ended the Cuban missile crisis and made our Nation, including the Soviets, and the Cubans relaxed. After this scare, a bunch of treaties was made and signed to reduce nuclear power. Leading us to create a great relation with China, after being a great ally to the Soviets
The U.S. had just elected President Kennedy two years prior to this very threatening occasion, and every nation thought he was a weak leader who just craved attention. During this time, the Soviets and the U.S. were right in the middle of the Cold War (1947-1991): the period of time when both nations were trying to spread their type of government and become superior, making us enemies. Just a year before the Cuban Missile Crisis, the U.S. had made a failed attempt at invading Cuba at the Bay of Pigs to overthrow their communist dictator, Fidel Castro. Once Russia caught wind of this failed invasion, they quickly jumped at their chance at becoming allies with Castro, and started building nuclear bombs in Cuba. Kennedy had recently placed bombs in Turkey, Russia’s neighbor probably leading the soviets to place some of theirs in Cuba, because of how close it was to America; one nuclear bomb could reach Washington D.C. in 30 minutes.
The Cold War historiography, specifically the issue of nuclear deterrence has provided historians the classic dialectic of an original thesis that is challenged by an antithesis. Both then emerge in the resolution of a new synthesis. Unfortunately, each evolution of a new synthesis is quickly demolished with each political crisis and technological advance during the Cold War narrative. The traditional/orthodox views were often challenged by the conventional wisdom with the creation of synthesis or post revisionism. There appears to be a multiple historiographical trends on nuclear deterrence over the Cold War; each were dependent and shaped upon international events and technological developments. I have identified four major trends: the orthodox, the revisionist, the post revisionist, st and the New Left. Each of these different historical approaches had its proponents and opponents, both in the military as well as the political and
The "Thirteen Days" of the Cuban Missile Crisis were, at that point, the closest the superpowers came to war. How severe this would have been is impossible to know. That this is the case was due in a large part to serendipity and the patience and understanding of the leaders. The lessons of this stand-off were not lost on either side. There were several key after-effects of this confrontation:
In his speech of March 23, 1983, President Reagan presented his vision of a future where a Nation’s security did not rest upon the threat of nuclear retaliation, but on the ability to protect and defend against such attacks. The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) research program was designed to tell whether, and how, advanced defense technologies could contribute to the feasibility of this vision.
... and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems." U.S. Department of State. U.S. Department of State, n.d. Web. 06 May 2014.