ABSTRACT
The central theme of the formal discussions was set by the Soviet delegation. It was the urgency of a treaty for general and complete disarmament. The American delegation was, of course, less monolithic. The private discussions in Moscow in 1960 correctly reflected the fact that Moscow’s primary interest in arms control arose from the fear of nuclear proliferation. Nevertheless, the argument for nonproliferation in the non-Communist world has depended in a fundamental way on the reliability of American commitments. In a curious way, the understandable impulse of the nuclear weapons states to limit their number must bring much closer to stable peace in the world if that impulse is to be fulfilled. The central theme of the formal discussions was set by the Soviet delegation. The Soviet delegation challenged the United States to produce a concrete, phased inspection plan to match the stages of a disarmament sequence.
