ABSTRACT
Both during and after the Cold War, the primary conduit of US-Russian dialogue on their strategic relations has been strategic arms control. Strategic arms control plays a critical role in the formulation of strategic arms policy and the development of nuclear force postures. Strategic arms control negotiations in the form that we have known them during the Cold War are a unique feature of the nuclear age. Despite the anti-nuclear rhetoric of the US-Soviet summit at Reykjavik in 1986, Strategic Arms Reductions Treaty (START) I and II were designed on the basis of 'stability' criteria which assume the existence of two antagonistic powers seeking to limit and control their confrontation. Ballistic missile defence has been an important factor in strategic arms control. Russia has the only operational anti-ballistic missile (ABM) system in the world which is deployed around Moscow.
