Half-century of Arms Control: A Tentative Score Sheet
Half-century of Arms Control: A Tentative Score Sheet

Summary/Abstract: During the over half century that has passed since the groundwork was laid for formulating the concept, contents and tenets of arms control, that dimension of military policy has been undergoing a series of changes and reassessments, both positive and negative. Arms control came in reaction to a confrontation between the Cold War blocs which largely manifested itself in a spiraling arms race between the communist East and the liberal West, and particularly between the two superpower protagonists, the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. In the divided post-war Europe, where this rivalry played itself out most fiercely, exclusive emphasis on bloated armed forces was proving exceedingly costly and harmful for both hostile camps, whether at the political, military, socio-economic or moral-ideological level.

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