ABSTRACT
The importance of the arms control framework is apparent as one looks ahead toward possible deployments of defensive systems. The US policy and program with regard to Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) raises three specific and important issues for the alliance partners. The ABM Treaty prohibits the "transfer to other states" of "ABM systems or their components" or of "technical descriptions or blueprints" worked out for their construction. The United States and its allies would need to conceive and negotiate a new arms control regime that would successfully integrate offensive and defensive forces. For the United States and the Soviet Union, especially, as possessors of close to 99 percent of the world's nuclear weapons, the challenge is to be serious—really serious—and committed to improving the political, diplomatic, and human relations.
