Nuclear Reset - Program on Strategic Stability Evaluation (POSSE)

180<strong>Nuclear</strong> <strong>Reset</strong>: Arms Reduction and Nonproliferationers; of space militarization through placement of various weapontypes into orbit (including those based on new physical principles);of withdrawal of the two countries from the 1972 ABM Treaty(a cornerstone of the arms control system); and of an overall collapseof the arms control system in general.The Soviet Union launched a large number of costly research programsto develop symmetrical and asymmetrical countermeasuresagainst the SDI: the symmetrical responses included developmentof a multipurpose strike orbital system and a multi-layered missiledefense; the asymmetrical approaches focused mainly on the landbasedICBM group having greater power reserves than SLBMs in orderto penetrate all of the layers of U.S. missile defense. Developmentof several new types of ICBMs began, with plans to increase the numberof ICBMs from 1,398 to almost 1,700, including deploymentof over 1,000 mobile launchers carrying Topol ICBMs and smallKurier ICBMs in order to significantly increase the survivability andefficiency of the nuclear deterrent.Such were the conditions during preparations for the START-Italks. Although subsequently tensions between the two superpowersgradually began to dissipate (especially after the two presidents metin Reykjavik in 1986), there nevertheless remained a considerableamount of mistrust between the two sides, as was fully reflectedin the final version of the treaty.The over 500-page Treaty consists of 19 articles; 38 agreed statements;seven protocols; numerous associated documents (such as lettersand other correspondence); 47 Joint Compliance and InspectionCommission (JCIC) agreements; 36 joint statements; 19 ‘S’ seriesjoint statements; a definitions annex; and annexes to the InspectionProtocol and MOU. One of the protocols related to the disintegrationof the Soviet Union and consequent emergence of new partiesto the treaty (Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine) was signed in May1992. The Framework Agreement, defining continued talks on strategicarms reductions and setting out the parties’ agreement to reducetheir strategic arsenals to 3,000-3,500 warheads, was signedin June 1992 and also became an integral part of the START-ITreaty.We shall list here only a portion of the main START-I provisionsthat are periodically discussed by officials and experts.The main conditions for strategic arms reduction and limitation areoutlined in Article 2 of the Treaty. Aside from decreasing the num-