Inf Treaty

INF Treaty

In the recent history of the United States of America, nuclear weapons

have been a hot topic. There have been many attempts to stop the production and use of

nuclear weapons not just by the government, but by the different organizations around

the globe. One attempt by the American government to stop this was the treaty between

the United States and the Soviet Union on the elimination of their intermediate range and

short range missiles from 1982 to 1987. This treaty required the destruction of these

missiles. In order to accomplish the removal of all nuclear weapons, steps were taken to

ensure this treaty. These steps mandated that the treaty would provide for equality both in

limit and rights between the United Sates and the Soviet Union, not adversely affect

NATO's conventional capabilities, and also be effectively verifiable (Bureau of Arms

Control 2). Some questions that arose from the Treaty were: the two countries

and leaders involved in the treaty? What exactly did the treaty cover? Finally why was

the treaty proposed in the first place.

Who was involved in the INF Treaty?

Ronald Wilson Reagan was born on February 6, 1911 in Tampico, Illinois.

During high school and throughout college, Ronald Reagan was a popular student who

played on the football team and acted in school plays. Finally in 1937, Ronald Reagan

started to work in Hollywood. During the next 20 years, Reagan appeared in over fifty

films. He later went on to marry twice, having two children with his first wife, and

having two children with his second wife, Nancy Davis, who was also an actress. Soon

to be President Reagan became a conservative during the time he was the president of the

Screen Actors Guild. In 1966, Ronald Reagan was elected governor of California and

later was re elected in 1970. Ten years later, Ronald Reagan decided to run for president,

representing the Republican Party. He chose former Texas Congressman to run with him

as his Vice President and United States Nations Ambassador George Bush. Reagan won

by an overwhelming majority of votes. Only sixty-nine days after President Reagan took

office, he was shot but quickly recovered. Many tasks that Reagan accomplished

during his terms in office, included stimulating economic growth, curbing inflation,

increasing employment, and strengthening national defense ("Bio" 1). In 1984, Reagan

and Bush were re-elected as President and Vice President of the United States. During

Reagan's second term in office, he sought to achieve "peace through strength" ("Bio" 1).

During Reagan's two terms, he increased defense spending by thirty-five percent but

sought to improve relations with the Soviet Union ("Bio" 1). During the "peace through

strength" period, Reagan met with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and together they

negotiated a treaty that would eliminate intermediate-range nuclear missiles.

Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was born on March 2, 1931 in Privalye Russia.

The son of peasants, Gorbachev learned the values of working hard to reach certain goals.

In 1952, Gorbachev entered the law school of Moscow State University. Then in 1970 he

became first secretary of the regional party committee ("Gorbachev" 1). During the next

fourteen years, Gorbachev slowly worked his way up the chain of command until

eventually in 1985, after former Secretary Konstatine Cherenko died; Gorbachev was

elected the new General Secretary. During Gorbachev's stay in office, he called for rapid

technological modernization and increased worker productivity and her tried to make the

cumbersome Soviet Bureaucracy more efficient and responsive ("Gorbachev" 1). Also,

during this time, Gorbachev came up with a new idea of "openness" where freedoms

were "significantly expanded; the press and broadcasting were allowed unprecedented

candor in their reportage and criticism; and the country's legacy of Stalinist totalitarism

rule was eventually completely repudiated by the government" ("Gorbachev" 1). When it

came to foreign affairs, Gorbachev signed an agreement with President Ronald Reagan in

1987 that stated that the two countries destroy all existing stocks of intermediate range

nuclear tipped missiles.

What is the INF Treaty?

"The INF Treaty is a document that requires the destruction of the Parties' ground

launched