Aug 6, 2017

by James Goodby

An interesting first-hand account by retired U.S. ambassador James E. Goodby of the origins and role of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency in shepherding the Limited Test Ban Treaty may be found on the Hoover Institution’s website, here. This is the abstract:

‘Public policy issues involving a complex mix of problems, exemplified today by climate change and the threat of nuclear war, require governance by institutions whose mandates and cultures embrace technological expertise as well as diplomatic and military skills. This paper is a case study of how such an institution operated during the Kennedy Administration to deal with the growing threat of radioactive debris in the environment and the threat of nuclear proliferation, and also put US-Soviet relations on a new trajectory. The 1963 Limited Test Ban Treaty might not have been concluded during the Kennedy Administration had the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency not been established in 1961’.