START (Strategic Arms Reductions Talks) -- The Road to Nuclear Stability

President Reagan committed the United States to reaching a strategic nuclear arms control agreement that would enhance nuclear deterrence stability between the United States and the Soviet Union. By accepting the premise that nuclear stability had eroded over the last decade, the author discusses the various schools of view for enhancing stability and the various factors that affect the stability of nuclear deterrence. This sets the stage for an evaluation of a START Treaty based upon United States Geneva proposals as to whether or not stability is enhanced by using likely START Treaty constrained force structure. In the authors opinion, the proposed START Treaty provisions are generally neutral to general stability, but the same provisions leave openings for both sides to exploit that would erode crisis stability. Included are recommendations for both unilateral U.S. actions and START Treaty proposals that, if adopted, would lead to increased crisis stability.