ABSTRACT
The defense programs of all countries involve a continuous stream of unilateral actions, many of which moderate the nuclear arms race. A particularly interesting and important example was the twenty-year period of restraint imposed by US presidents on the development of antisatellite weapons. More recently, a number of Europeans and Americans have proposed that we unilaterally and as a first step either eliminate all so-called battlefield nuclear weapons or at least remove them from close proximity to the inter-German border. In President Eisenhower's view the main purpose for declaring a moratorium was to create a political climate conducive to the negotiation of a detailed treaty on the subject of testing. In the meantime, and despite US restraint, the Soviets launched their first antisatellite experiment in 1968, and they have continued to conduct further tests in an on-again off-again fashion.
