Customer center

We are a boutique essay service, not a mass production custom writing factory. Let us create a perfect paper for you today!

Example research essay topic: Cold War Disarmament Talks - 1,016 words

NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote

... 2500, deployed strategic ballistic missiles to 850, no more than 110 heavy ICBMs and also reductions in ballistic missile throw-weight. The second phase focused on placing limits on heavy bombers and other strategic systems. However the year 1983 marked a breakdown of US-Soviet relations. The Soviets suspended talks in reaction to Reagan's Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI) alleging that the SDI had changed the strategic situation making aspects of START irrelevant or unfair. To see why, it is necessary to look at the implications of SDI (the star wars program). It was to be a shield that would protect US from any incoming missiles.

Even though American scientists later realised that such a shield could not, in practical terms, be totally effective, the Soviets took it seriously since it rendered all their superior offensive missiles impotent. This shifted the military equilibrium and deterrence by MAD (mutually assured destruction that had kept both sides from going to war) was not employable any more. The accession of Mikhail Gorbachev signalled the beginning of the end of the cold war. Finally Reagan had found someone with whom he could develop a workable relationship.

Gorbachev felt the arms control was the basis on which the new phase of US-Soviet relationship would be built and that arms reduction would be at the heart of political accommodation. Gorbachev and Reagan met in four summit meetings between 1985 and 1988. Instigated by the stalled arms reduction talks and seeing the need for an umbrella framework in talks between US and Soviet Union, U. S. Secretary of State George Shultz and Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko met in Geneva (January 7, 1985) to set the agenda for new Nuclear and Space Talks (NST). These talks were to cover strategic nuclear arms, intermediate-range nuclear forces, and space defence.

Negotiations began on March 12 but the stumbling block of SDI remained. At the first Reagan-Gorbachev summit meeting in November no results were reached due to this. The second summit meeting at Reykjavik, Iceland, in October 1986, seemed to open up a new perspective in disarmament talks. The key agenda of the talks turned out to be not just arms control or arms reduction but rather complete disarmament. Reagan, however, was not prepared to make concessions over SDI and again the summit ended in failure. Realising that, in the current situation, agreement on reduction of long and intermediate range weapons depended on an agreement over SDI, Gorbachev opened the INF (Intermediate-range Nuclear Force) talks at the third summit meeting in Washington in December 1987 to eliminate an entirely unlinked class of nuclear weapons: land based shorter-than-intermediate-range missiles.

The INF treaty was the first important step in arms control. It proved to the world that not only could the arms race be restrained but also it could actually be reversed. Another positive outcome of the INF treaty was the agreement on a comprehensive process of verification. With this agreement, inspectors from either country could witness the destruction of missiles and acquire data from each other opening up an opportunity for trust to develop through glasnost between the two previously secretive states.

Even though the fourth summit meeting in Moscow in May 1988 was a failure it did not stop the momentum of arms reduction negotiations. The Moscow summit failed because agreement still could not be formed over the SDI and therefore START remained on the table. But both parties, encouraged by the success of the Washington summit, kept searching for cooperation. This joint effort in disarmament negotiations also positively effected the overall relationship between the US and Soviet Union. Gorbachev, with his INF initiative, had single handedly erased the American perception of USSR as the evil empire.

This proved that Gorbachev was right in assuming that arms control would be the key to better relations between the superpowers. In 1989, in the background of East European revolutions, the Soviet Union decides to sever the linkage between SDI and START. This opens up the doorway to reduction of all ballistic warheads as outlined in 1982. The Soviets do however warn that they will withdraw from the treaty if the US fail to comply by the ABM treaty of 1972.

At the Washington summit of May 31 -June 3, 1990 George Bush and Gorbachev sign an agreement for the above START provisions and also other arms control provision. Presidents Bush and Gorbachev finally sign the "Treaty on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms" (START I), in July 31 1991. It calls for both sides to reduce their strategic nuclear forces over seven years to 1, 600 strategic nuclear delivery vehicles (Sides) and 6, 000 "accountable" warheads, and a sub-limit of 4, 900 may be on ballistic missiles. This meant reducing 25 to 35 percent of all strategic warheads.

In 1989 Gorbachev's reforms led to revolutions in the countries of the soviet bloc and the Soviet Empire crumbled. December 25 1991, the Soviet Union dissolves to form the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Cold War is officially over. It is difficult to assess the extent to which disarmament talks led to the end of cold war. After the INF agreements, the US public was able to see through the images built up by Mccarthysim at the real USSR. Gobymania replaced Mccarthysim as Gorbachev's reforms became popular with the west and as he built stronger relationships with the US.

Frequent summit meeting and disarmament talks helped achieve this. It is generally agreed that arms control and reduction and even the cooperation of negotiations had destroyed many barriers of political accommodation. Bibliography Mason WJ, The Cold War 1945 - 1991, Routledge, London 1996 Dalziel S, The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Empire, Magna Books, London 1993 Pike J, START Chronology, web >, Federation of American Scientists, 2000 Mendelsohn, RC, Arms Control and Disarmament; The American Commitment, web >, DOS, 1997 Kimball D, Chronology of Key Events the Effort to End Nuclear Weapons Testing: 1945 - 1999, web >, CTBTS 1999


Free research essays on topics related to:
intermediate range, soviet union, ballistic missiles, arms control, nuclear weapons

Research essay sample on Cold War Disarmament Talks

Writing service prices per page

  • $18.85 - in 14 days
  • $19.95 - in 3 days
  • $23.95 - within 48 hours
  • $26.95 - within 24 hours
  • $29.95 - within 12 hours
  • $34.95 - within 6 hours
  • $39.95 - within 3 hours
  • Calculate total price

Our guarantee

  • 100% money back guarantee
  • plagiarism-free authentic works
  • completely confidential service
  • timely revisions until completely satisfied
  • 24/7 customer support
  • payments protected by PayPal

Secure payment

With EssayChief you get

  • Strict plagiarism detection regulations
  • 300+ words per page
  • Times New Roman font 12 pts, double-spaced
  • FREE abstract, outline, bibliography
  • Money back guarantee for missed deadline
  • Round-the-clock customer support
  • Complete anonymity of all our clients
  • Custom essays
  • Writing service

EssayChief can handle your

  • essays, term papers
  • book and movie reports
  • Power Point presentations
  • annotated bibliographies
  • theses, dissertations
  • exam preparations
  • editing and proofreading of your texts
  • academic ghostwriting of any kind

Free essay samples

Browse essays by topic:

Stay with EssayChief! We offer 10% discount to all our return customers. Once you place your order you will receive an email with the password. You can use this password for unlimited period and you can share it with your friends!

Academic ghostwriting

About us

© 2002-2024 EssayChief.com