Politics of the Nuclear Arms Race
Throughout
the Cold War, many advances were made in nuclear weapons. Along with the
advances in the technologies, boundaries needed to be set. This is where the
treaties come in. Since it was the Cold War, the U.S. and the USSR were not on
the best of terms, but the two nations did agree on some terms when it came to
the possibility of a nuclear apocalypse.
Many
treaties were during the Cold War to the proliferation of nuclear weapons and
limits on the use of the weapons. Three of these treaties include the Limited
Test Ban Treaty, the Outer Space Treaty, and the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
These treaties were major road marks in the nuclear arms race.
The
Limited Test Ban Treaty was the first treaty signed during the Cold War on arms
control. The U.S., the USSR, and the U.K. signed it in 1963 because of Kennedy
and Khrushchev’s fears of the opposing nation’s nuclear threat. The LTBT
stopped the testing of all nuclear weapons under water, on land, and in space
in fear of nuclear fallout in surrounding areas of the blast radius. According
to a historian, the Limited Test Ban Treaty did not directly effect or decrease
the development and proliferation of the nuclear weapons. The LTBT did,
however, set a standard for new treaties.
With
the Limited Test Ban Treaty signed, the Soviets wanted to make a new agreement
on banning the use of nuclear weapons in space. September 19, 1963, Soviet
Foreign Minister, Gromyko, informed the General Assembly of the Soviets wishes
for an outer space treaty. The U.S. Ambassador Stevens claimed that the U.S.
never planned on sending nuclear weapons to space. On June 16, 1966 the U.S.
and Soviets turned in draft treaties and the Soviets included banning the
orbiting, stationing in space, and installation of nuclear weapons on celestial
bodies where the U.S. only addressed celestial bodies. The U.S. agreed to the
Soviets’ terms and the Outer Space Treaty was signed on January 27, 1967 and
went into action on October 10, 1967.
This
treaty shows how the U.S. and USSR could cooperate during the Cold War if they
were inclined to do so. It also shows that the Soviets were concerned with
being attacked as much as the U.S. The Soviets also wanted to minimize
possibilities of the U.S. gaining the upper hand in technologies.
The
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty could be argued as one of the most important
treaties of the Cold War nuclear arms race. The NPT was signed in 1968 by major
nuclear and non-nuclear nations. One historian suggests that even though the
NPT did not stop proliferation of nuclear technologies, it was a major step
forward in the prevention of proliferation and showed cooperation between
nuclear and non-nuclear nations. The historian also states that with the
spreading of nuclear weapons to countries not within the balance of the three
superpowers of the U.S., U.K., and USSR, the balance of “assured destruction”
may be disrupted. That is why the NPT is one of, if not the most important
Treaty of the nuclear arms race. Without this treaty the spread of nuclear
weapons would have been much more rapid and nuclear strikes may have been much
more likely.
Along
with the treaties, there were a few political mishaps with the nuclear arms
race, the Cuban missile crisis being the most famous.
Previous to the
missile crisis, Khrushchev and Kennedy met in Vienna in 1961. Kennedy was
caught off guard by the threatening attitude of Khrushchev. Khrushchev threatened to cut off U.S. access
to Berlin and two months later he built the Berlin Wall. After the meeting
Khrushchev was impressed by Kennedy. He stated that, “He is tough, very
forthright, and extremely intelligent. I hope to meet him again, although he is
not an easy man to talk to.” (John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum)
These discussions, and Soviets resuming nuclear testing, made Kennedy resume
nuclear testing, up production of ICBMs, and add five new army divisions to
increase reserve and airpower.
During 1962,
Khrushchev made an agreement with communist Cuba to supply Cuba with nuclear
missile for protection against another possible U.S. attack. U.S. spy plane
photographed the construction of nuclear missile sites in Cuba during October.
This induced Kennedy to order a naval blockade around Cuba that was called
”Quarantine.” Khrushchev withdrew from Cuba after the word that the U.S. would
reinvade and complied to the demand of the removal and destruction of missiles
and launch sites in Cuba. After this incident, Khrushchev put all of the USSR’s
resources into nuclear strike for upgrades, which accelerated the nuclear arms
race.
The threats and
treaties of nuclear warfare shaped the political mess that was the Cold War.
Without the treaties between nuclear superpowers keeping them from launching
missiles, the world may have been turned into a wasteland. These events still
effect nuclear policies today. One CRS Report for Congress from January 2008 is
titled, U.S. Nuclear Weapons: Changes
in Policy and Force Structure. It discusses the Bush administrations concerns
on the amount of nuclear weapons the U.S. should hold and that since Russia is
now an ally some nuclear weapons can be disposed of. Even thirty years after
the Cold War nuclear policies are still referred to for guidelines on new ones.
All of these policies
are still in action today to keep the threat of nuclear attacks to a minimum. Countries
like Iran and North Korea are threating attacks today even though they far
behind on technology thanks to treaties such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty.
Sources
| Meeting to discuss state of Non-Proliferation Treaty |
| Telegram relaying Khrushchev's comments about meeting President Kennedy |
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| U2 picture of missile site in Cuba |
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| Khrushchev and Kennedy shaking hands |
- John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum - information on Cuban Missile Crisis and Kennedy Khrushchev meeting in Vienna
- Office of the Historian - information on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
- U.S. Department of State - information on Outer Space Treaty
- CRS Report - information on modern nuclear policies (Primary)
- telegram - Khrushchev's impressions of Kennedy (Primary)
- Office of the Historian - information on the Limited Test Ban Treaty
