Open Skies ready for takeoff
- Henry L. Stimson Center, Washington, DC (United States)
A perpetual bridesmaid of arms control, an Open Skies treaty may soon glide down the aisle, attended by the 38 nations of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). An Open Skies treaty has been waiting in the wings a long time - since 1955, when US president Dwight Eisenhower first proposed reciprocal aerial inspections. The idea was revived by President George Bush in May 1989 and has since endured an on-again, off-again engagement for more than two years. A negotiating logjam was broken last fall when the Soviets responded in kind to Western concessions. If a push to settle final details is successful, the signing ceremony may take place this March at the CSCE meeting in Helsinki. Bush did not propose connecting confidence-building overflights to any particular arms control regime. Instead, his objective was a general increase in stability and trust during a time of fundamental military and political change. The concept sounded simple enough, but after an initial East-West talkfest in Ottawa in February 1990, subsequent negotiations in Budapest bogged down over major policy issues and technicalities. The 22 delegations could not agree on the number of flights, whose aircraft to use, what type or quality of observational instruments type or quality of observational instruments would be permitted, where the flights could go, or the distribution of the resulting data.
- OSTI ID:
- 7229449
- Journal Information:
- Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists; (United States), Vol. 48:1; ISSN 0096-5243
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
ARMS CONTROL
TREATIES
VERIFICATION
AERIAL MONITORING
INSPECTION
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
POLITICAL ASPECTS
SURVEILLANCE
COOPERATION
INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS
MONITORING
350300* - Arms Control- Verification- (1987-)
350101 - Arms Control- Policy
Negotiations
& Legislation- Treaties- (1987-)
290600 - Energy Planning & Policy- Nuclear Energy