President Bush’s Arms Control Challenge

Abstract

President Bush comes to office on the crest of a remarkable series of improvements in world order. Some of these developments have been in the making for many years, others are a consequence of Mr. Gorbachev’s revolution, and still others are due to Mr. Reagan’s recognition and support of change backed by Congress and the public. Thus, the superpowers are deeply involved in a new detente powered by Mr. Gorbachev’s commitment to radical domestic reform and cooperative foreign policy initiatives. With the West responding positively to the Soviet Union’s new directions, it now seems possible to resolve half a dozen chronic regional disputes and wars, leaving only the Middle East and Central America on the agenda. Compared with the low point of 1983, the NATO alliance shows remarkable vitality and Western Europe is finally accelerating toward integration which will give it new strength. Fledgling democracies have replaced dictatorships at an unprecedented rate. And the democratic way bolstered by reliance on moderately regulated capitalism is clearly in the ascendancy.