disarmament
disarmament Refers principally to attempts post-1918 (and especially post-1945) to reach international agreements to reduce armaments. The United Nations established the Atomic Energy Commission (1946), and the Commission for Conventional Armaments (1947). In 1952, these merged to form the Disarmament Commission. It produced no results and the Soviet Union withdrew in 1957. The USA and the Soviet Union signed the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (1963) and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (1968), which provided for an international inspectorate. A series of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) followed. In the early 1980s, intensification of the Cold War froze all disarmament efforts. In 1986 START (strategic arms reduction talks) superseded SALT, resulting in the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty (1987), which reduced the superpowers' arsenal of short-range, intermediate missiles by c.2000 (4% of the total stockpile) and provided for on-site inspection. Following the break-up of the Soviet Union, the focus shifted partly to non-nuclear disarmament. The Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty (1990) set limits on equipment and troop levels. Attempts to sign a comprehensive Test Ban Treaty have been thwarted by China, France, India, and Pakistan.
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disarmament