ABSTRACT
In the aftermath of the November 1985 summit between President Ronald Reagan and General-Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, arms control was widely seen to be back on track. The lack of progress in building on the ‘spirit’ of that summit during the first few months of 1986 dampened enthusiasm, but it is still generally felt that the major powers are embarked on a serious negotiating exercise that could well produce results over the next few years. To the reformers, arms control is worthwhile only if it produces major changes in the international system. The Reagan administration, for example, has argued that negotiations to achieve strategic arms limitations, and so merely consolidate the status quo, are pointless. By contrast, the managers argue that the East-West antagonism derives from genuine conflicts of interests and ideology, and that it will therefore persist until these conflicts are resolved. It is much more than a creature of the arms race.
