Arms Control Agreement on Enough

Abstract

The White House last week announced a “major advance” in the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, which have been going on since 1969. The advance—a compromise worked out in a secret exchange of letters between President Nixon and Soviet Party Chief Leonid Brezhnev—represents an important milestone in U.S.-Soviet relations and reflects a long-term change in Washington’s policy. Where once the U.S. sought to maintain overall nuclear superiority, Washington has now settled for what Nixon has called “sufficiency”—that is, enough arms to deter any Russian attack by promising a devastating retaliatory strike.