ABSTRACT
After a long period of public hostility during which there were hardly any high-level contacts, the United States and the Soviet Union are at least talking to each other about nuclear weapons and space weapons. But while these negotiations are going on, big rearmament programmes are also in progress. Arms control is not, of course, an end in itself. The aim is to avoid war—primarily nuclear war. Since it is unlikely that the nuclear powers will be willing simply to give up their nuclear weapons, the best way to avoid nuclear war is to establish some kind of stable nuclear balance. Improvements in the defences of one side worsen the offensive capabilities of the other. With Strategic Defense Initiative on the horizon and the anti-ballistic missile Treaty under threat, it is very important that defensive systems have been included in negotiations. The negotiations about space weapons will clearly be one of the most difficult areas in Geneva.
