ARMS CONTROL TODAY: A REVIEW OF ONGOING NEGOTIATIONS

Never in its history has the United States been embroidered in as many diverse bilateral and multilateral arms control negotiations as are currently active today. Proponents within the administration have targeted no less than four major agreements for completion in 1990. The Threshold Test Ban and Peaceful Nuclear Explosions Treaties will almost certainly be signed at the June 1990 summit. The bilateral START Treaty and the multilateral CFE agreement are projected for completion later in the year. Concurrent with these negotiations, the U.S. is engaged in both bilateral and multilateral negotiations on the limitation of Chemical Weapons as well as in ongoing talks on a Defense and Space Treaty, an agreement to limit the spread of missile technology, and an \"Open Skies\" agreement to increase the transparency of military operations within the territory of the consenting nations. This paper is designed to provide a broad overview of the status and pace of ongoing arms control negotiations with specific focus on current arms control approaches drawn directly from U.S. experiences in safeguarding materials.