ABSTRACT
Mikhail Gorbachev's 15 January 1986 proposal to abolish all nuclear weapons by the year 2000 was a bold and radical challenge to the status quo. The fundamental difference between Gorbachev's proposal and the policies of the United States and Russia remains: Gorbachev aimed at abolition, but Washington and Moscow seek to protect their capacities to threaten use of nuclear weapons. The proposal was made more than three years before Gorbachev's epoch-marking visit to China in 1989. China is mentioned once, as the other country—with the Soviet Union—that had committed to no first use. Gorbachev's proposal to abolish nuclear weapons by the year 2000 was made within a year of his becoming General Secretary. The 15 January proposal was also prelude to Ronald Reagan and Gorbachev's meeting in Reykjavik in October. Reykjavik challenged assumptions of the US policy community of its time.
