The New START Treaty
The Future of U.S.-Russia Nuclear Arms Control
During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union were locked in a race to attain military supremacy that resulted in a buildup of massive nuclear arsenals on both sides. By the time the conflict came to end, each superpower faced the daunting challenge of reducing its stockpiles of nuclear weaponry while simultaneously maintaining national security. In 1991, U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev signed the Treaty on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, which became known as START I. The agreement capped the number of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and nuclear…
