The Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty was signed by President Ronald W. Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on December 8, 1987, and took effect on June 1, 1988. The INF Treaty is distinguished from previous arms control agreements because it called for the ban and elimination of entire classes of weapons.
Premier Mikhail Gorbachev and President Ronald W. Reagan sign the Intermediate Nuclear Forces treaty. (Collection of the District of Columbia Public Library)
After World War II, the Soviet Union created a buffer zone of communist states in eastern Europe and effectively closed the borders between the East and the West. The rise of the Berlin Wall in 1961, and the crisis in Czechoslovakia in 1968 prompted many in the West to fear for the safety of Europe in the event of Soviet expansion. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) thus became an important source of security for Europe. The United States and the Soviet Union attempted to ease tensions by promising to limit certain classes of defensive-based weapons. These talks were generally ineffective, and throughout the 1970s, the Soviet Union continued to increase the size of its military arsenals. During his first term in office, President Reagan responded with a dual-track program, which promoted new efforts in NATO defense as well as new overtures for detente. He deployed intermediate-range missiles to protect targeted European cities, and devoted considerable research to a space-based missile defense system intended to neutralize the threat of the Soviet Union’s long-range nuclear missiles. At the same time, Reagan aggressively promoted a Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (start), which called for deep cuts in land-based missile systems.
Talks between the United States and the Soviet Union began in 1982 but were broken off by the Soviets in 1983. Soon thereafter, however, the Soviet economy weakened from years of military buildup, and the new premier, Mikhail Gorbachev, was forced to pursue a reform agenda called GLASNost, which included a new willingness to find agreement with the West. The United States responded accordingly, and after his reelection in 1984, President Reagan intensified efforts to reach a significant arms agreement that might end the cold war. When talks resumed in 1985, both parties came to the table with a renewed commitment. In 1987 Reagan and Gorbachev met in person to discuss the issues. By December of that year, the two reached an unprecedented agreement, which eliminated all ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers (310 to 3,415 miles). The agreement also called for the elimination of intermediate-range missile delivery systems; it banned the future production of intermediate-range missiles; and established strict limits on research and development in that technology. The parties also agreed to submit to on-site verification of missile disposal, and established the Special Verification Commission (SVC) to administer enforcement.
The INF Treaty marked the beginning of the end of the cold war. By eliminating INF-range missiles, the superpowers effectively removed Europe from the gambit of nuclear deterrence; the Soviets could not easily target European cities, and the United States could not use Europe as a base to launch its weapons. Immediately after signing the agreement, Reagan and Gorbachev began to work on reducing long-range missiles through the START treaties. They met twice in 1988, and after Reagan left office, President George H. W. Bush continued the process throughout 1989, 1990, and 1991. Gorbachev and Bush agreed to reduce the size of conventional forces in Europe in 1990, and in 1991 they agreed to eliminate their stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons. They signed the START I treaty in July 1991, which reduced existing nuclear warheads by 25 percent. Six months later, the Warsaw Treaty organization dissolved, Gorbachev resigned from office, and the Soviet Union ceased to exist. START I was not ratified by the former Soviet states until November 1994. In appreciation for its ratification, and to help facilitate accelerated compliance, the United States agreed to provide Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine with $1 billion to help make the transition from a military to a civilian industrial complex.
See also Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty; Catholic Bishops’ Letter (The Challenge of Peace, 1983); DEEENsE policy; IroN CURTAIN, collapse of; nuclear ereeze movement; Strategic Arms Limitation Treaties; Strategic Deeense Initiative.
—Aharon W. Zorea
World History
