Policy and Arms Control

S.K. Oznobishchev

doi:10.17976/jpps/2021.06.03

Policy and Arms Control

Oznobishchev S.K.,

Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia, serko96@gmail.com

elibrary_id: 251323 |

DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2021.06.03

Rubric: Theme of the Issue: The “Eternal” Political Questions

For citation:

Oznobishchev S.K. Policy and Arms Control. – Polis. Political Studies. 2021. No. 6. P. 26-41. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2021.06.03

Abstract

Throughout the Cold War, the arms race was driven by an ideological confrontation between two superpowers representing two antagonistic social systems, socialism and capitalism. However, at present, representatives of the elites of the United States and Russia are trying to recreate elements of the new “farcical” Cold War leading to Russophobia on the one hand and anti-Westernism on the other. Since the Gorbachev Perestroika era and especially after that, relations between the two countries have gone through several repeating cycles, beginning with hopes of establishing a new type of relations charcaterized by close cooperation and partnership and ending with a period of deterioration in relations. For a number of perfectly rational reasons, the United States and the USSR, as the main conductors and participants in the arms race, initiated the process of arms control, which supposedly acquired its own positive momentum. However, it turned out that this process was tied to the state of political relations and was not capable of achieving positive results without a favorable political environment. As a result of the deterioration in political conditions, progress in various arms control areas, one by one, came to a halt. Moreover, it turned out that the decades-old arms control system may be on the verge of total destruction, which almost became a reality after the Ukrainian crisis of 2014 and, especially, during the Trump presidency. The extension of START III, which took place almost on the verge of a political and negotiating “foul”, raises the question not so much about the technique of compromise on the way to a new treaty, but of how to ensure the continuity and effectiveness of the arms control process, which is a key element of strategic stability.

Keywords

arms control, crisis, Cold War, Russian-US/Western relations, cooperation, partnership.

Full Text

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Content No. 6, 2021