portunity to respond before the missiles reach their
targets. The Soviet deployment of such missiles in
Europe upset the balance of power in the region.
U.S. Response The United States and its NATO al-
lies responded to this new threat in two ways: The
Americans developed a missile with capabilities simi-
lar to those of the SS-20, and Western powers en-
tered into negotiations with the Soviets. Informal
negotiations took place in the fall of 1980. Formal
negotiations began the following year. The United
States sought a bilateral treaty that would result in
equal limits being placed upon both U.S. and Soviet
nuclear capabilities without affecting their conven-
tional weapons. Meanwhile, the United States has-
tened to develop a ground-launched cruise missile,
as well as the Pershing II missile. The latter was an
intermediate-range ballistic missile with a warhead
small enough to allow somewhat targeted attacks.
When negotiations did not result in a quick agree-
ment, the United States deployed its own intermedi-
ate-range missiles. The Pershing II was deployed in
West Germany in 1984, and its European deploy-
ment was completed by the end of 1985. Many peo-
ple saw the existence of intermediate-range nuclear
missiles and their deployment within range of strate-
gic targets as the equivalent of a hair trigger. It meant
that if either superpower detected an apparent nu-
clear attack, its government would have no more
than a few minutes to decide how to respond, in-
creasing the chances of full-scale nuclear war.
Early in the negotiations, President Ronald Rea-
gan proposed what was called the “zero option,”
which would entirely eliminate intermediate-range
weapons from both arsenals. This proposal was re-
jected by the Soviets. Negotiations were complicated
by the fact that multiple nuclear treaties and issues
were under discussion simultaneously. For example,
the Reagan administration sought to develop an
antiballistic missile (ABM) defense system, to which520 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty The Eighties in America
U.S. president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev sign the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty on December 8,
1987.(Courtesy, Ronald Reagan Library/NARA)