UNLIMITED TEST BAN TREATY?

In: Arms control today, Band 20, Heft 3, S. 30

Abstract

THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S OPPOSITION TO A NUCLEAR TEST BAN HAS COME UNDER INTERNATIONAL FIRE. FORTY-ONE SIGNERS OF THE 1963 LIMITED TEST BAN TREATY (LTBT) HAVE ACTIVATED A LONG-NEGLECTED CLAUSE AND DEMANDED A CONFERENCE TO AMEND THE TREATY INTO A COMPREHENSIVE BAN ON NUCLEAR TESTING. DESPITE U.S. OPPOSITION, THE LTBT STATES HAVE AGREED TO HOLD A PREPARATORY MEETING IN 1990 AND BEGIN FORMAL NEGOTIATIONS IN EARLY 1991. SOME MEMBERS OF THE U.S. CONGRESS ARE DRAFTING A RESOLUTION RECOMMENDING THAT PRESIDENT BUSH NEGOTIATE IN GOOD FAITH AT THE LTBT CONFERENCE AND ALSO PURSUE A TEST BAN WITH THE USSR.