ABSTRACT
In his briefings on Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, Henry Kissinger answered the critics of arms control by stressing the need to accept a mix of advantage and disadvantage in both the initial and subsequent arms control agreements with the Soviet Union. There are two ways to maintain that equivalence. One is for both sides to add to their nuclear arsenals in equivalent or offsetting ways. The other is for both sides to limit their arsenals or to reduce them on a comparable basis. People have the option to follow either course. Either can maintain our security. It is also important to realize that any impending changes in the strategic balance will be the consequence of more than 15 years of unequal rates of investment in force modernization—the product of unilateral choices rather than an outcome of negotiated arms control. Precision can never weaken an arms control agreement.
