Arms Control: Reality and Mirage

As we move toward the 1986 elections, the prospect of a U.S.-Soviet arms control agreement has become simultaneously more visible and more of a mirage. The sense of progress has been heightened by a rapid exchange of letters and public statements between President Reagan and Soviet party leader Gorbachev, by sudden U.S.–Soviet meetings on nuclear testing and the SALT II limits, and by renewed discussions about a second summit meeting.