Research On The US-Soviet Intermediate-Range Missile Negotiations During The Reagan Administratio

During more than 40 years of the Cold War,the two superpowers,the United States and the Soviet Union,fought for global hegemony and launched the largest arms race in human history.Because of the unprecedented power of nuclear weapons,it became the most important pillar and chip of the military power needed by the United States and the Soviet Union to compete for the sphere of influence and strategic advantage,and also the main field of arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union.In nearly half a century of intense competition,the two sides have invested hundreds of billions of dollars to develop vast nuclear weapons systems from the ground to the sea,from the air to space,whose total power has reached the point of destroying each other several times,becoming the greatest threat to world peace and security.With the emergence of nuclear weapons,nuclear strategy was born.Nuclear strategy refers to the strategy and policy for planning and guiding the development and application of nuclear forces.After the Truman administration decided to drop two atomic bombs on Japan,the United States opened a new chapter in its nuclear strategy.However,Truman used nuclear weapons only to end the war,and did not develop a nuclear strategy.And at the beginning of the Cold War,Americans viewed the atomic bomb only as a powerful new weapon and a last resort deterrent.The real formation of US nuclear strategy began in the Eisenhower era.After Eisenhower took office,the United States decided to adopt a strategy of "massive retaliation" that relied primarily on nuclear forces.Since then,the nuclear strategy of the United States has also changed according to the changes of military policies of various administrations,and the following nuclear strategies have been roughly formed: "massive retaliation" strategy,"flexible response" strategy,"limited nuclear options" strategy,"offset" strategy,and "Star Wars" strategy.These nuclear strategies guided successive U.S.administrations as they sought to remain invincible in the nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union.However,after a long nuclear arms race,the United States and the Soviet Union found that both sides could not achieve complete advantages in the nuclear arms race,and the international situation was even more volatile because of the rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union,and the United States and the Soviet Union governments were also heavily in debt because of the long-term arms race.There are also reasons why arms control negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union must begin as soon as possible.Among the many issues in nuclear arms control negotiations,the intermediate-range missile issue is the most urgent and relatively easy to resolve.Beginning in 1981,the United States and the Soviet Union began the first phase of the three-year intermediate-range missile negotiations.However,the policy of the United States towards the Soviet Union at this time was highly confrontational,and this antagonism was also reflected in the intermediate-range missile negotiations.The negotiation views of the United States and the Soviet Union had a fierce collision,and the final negotiation ended in failure.Starting from 1984,Reagan gradually changed his policy toward the Soviet Union,and then US-Soviet relations entered a period of "detente".In January 1985,U.S.Secretary of State George Shultz and Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko agreed in Geneva to a "disarmament package" that included strategic nuclear weapons,space weapons,and medium-range weapons in Europe.The United States and the Soviet Union are back at the negotiating table to discuss the INF issue.After the resumption of negotiations,the United States and the Soviet Union made concessions in their respective negotiating positions.Since 1987,the pace of negotiations has accelerated.After a year of hard negotiations,the two sides finally signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in Washington on December 8,1987.The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was the first treaty to reduce nuclear armaments in the history of nuclear disarmament between the United States and the Soviet Union,and it was also the first treaty to reduce an entire category of weapons,while setting a precedent in terms of asymmetric reduction and verification measures,and occupies an important place in the history of nuclear disarmament between the United States and the Soviet Union.The signing of the INF Treaty marks a satisfactory result after more than six years of negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union.Since then,the Reagan administration has worked on ratification of the treaty.It took more than six months for the treaty to be ratified.At the Moscow summit in May 1988,the two leaders exchanged protocols.At this point,all negotiations on the issue of intermediate-range missiles have been completed.The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was the first treaty to reduce nuclear armaments in the history of nuclear disarmament between the United States and the Soviet Union,and it was also the first treaty to reduce an entire category of weapons.It set a precedent in terms of asymmetric reduction and verification measures,and occupies an important place in the history of nuclear disarmament between the United States and the Soviet Union.The signing of the INF Treaty marked that the United States and the Soviet Union had embarked on the road of actual arms reduction,increased the world’s confidence in the results of the US-Soviet nuclear disarmament negotiations,and reduced the great pressure of medium-range nuclear weapons on Europe.At the same time,the signing of the treaty also strengthened the trust between the United States and the Soviet Union.In addition,strict verification solved the biggest problems in arms control and disarmament between the United States and the Soviet Union in the past,and also proposed practical rules for signing relevant agreements in the future.The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was the first treaty to reduce nuclear armaments in the history of nuclear disarmament between the United States and the Soviet Union,and it was also the first treaty to reduce an entire category of weapons.It set a precedent in terms of asymmetric reduction and verification measures,and occupies an important place in the history of nuclear disarmament between the United States and the Soviet Union.The signing of the INF Treaty marked that the United States and the Soviet Union had embarked on the road of actual arms reduction,increased the world’s confidence in the results of the US-Soviet nuclear disarmament negotiations,and reduced the great pressure of medium-range nuclear weapons on Europe.At the same time,the signing of the treaty also strengthened the trust between the United States and the Soviet Union.In addition,strict verification solved the biggest problems in arms control and disarmament between the United States and the Soviet Union in the past,and also proposed practical rules for signing relevant agreements in the future.