Download file 102 KB Texto completo en español More of: Manfred Wilhelmy

For years, nuclear weapons deployment by the two superpowers —the Soviet Union and the United States— has been the focus of interest and world concern. The problem began in the 50’s, and since then, numerous, but unsuccessful, efforts were made to find a solution. Moreover, from 1983 to 1984, there was a rupture in the talks of the leaders of the two countries in the search for an agreement, giving rise to a particularly tense period known as the "new Cold War." In December 1987, after several meetings and gradual progress in the areas that were holding back the negotiations, an agreement was reached during the visit by Gorbachov to Reagan on the elimination of intermediate-range missiles placed by the United States and the Soviet Union in Europe.
The December 8, 1987 treaty is the first that orders the destruction of an entire category of nuclear weapons, their launch vehicles and support facilities, thus setting down a principle of true disarmament. Moreover, the acceptance of the principle of confirmation through inspection constitutes an unusual process in arms control agreements. Nevertheless, we cannot by any means expect that the December agreements constitute a panacea to achieving an acceptable level of international security as the percentage of weapons that will be eliminated is small in comparison to the nuclear arsenals of both countries. In fact, both the United States as well as the Soviet Union continue their accelerated race to develop and emplace new and perfected strategic arms.
It is possible that the agreement expresses a true intent to moderate the impact of certain conflictive factors, but we are still quite far from attacking their geopolitical, ideological, psychological and structural roots.