National Security Report: Background and Perspective on Important National Security and Defense Policy Issues. Volume 3, Issue 2, August 1999. Communiques and Treaties are Poor Shields: Implications of the U.S. - Russian Joint Statement on the ABM and START III Treaties

On June 20,1999, President Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin agreed to the "Joint Statement Between the United States and the Russian Federation Concerning Strategic Offensive and Defensive Arms and Further Strengthening of Stability" that called for discussions later this summer on a third Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START III) treaty and on strengthening the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty. According to Administration officials, these discussions will begin in Moscow on August 17th. However, serious questions remain over whether the Administration's commitment to continued reductions in nuclear arsenals and past treaties in particular, the 1972 AEM Treaty will serve to increase or decrease American security in a rapidly changing and increasingly dangerous international environment.