the Soviet Union strongly objected, and the super-
powers were in the midst of negotiating a separate
ballistic missile treaty in addition to the INF Treaty.
Sometimes, the INF negotiations were held hostage
to perceived problems in one of these other areas.
The talks were sporadic until 1985, by which time
both sides had intermediate-range missiles in the
field, pointed at each other. Also in 1985, Mikhail
Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union.
During the first year of his leadership, Gorbachev
met with President Reagan, and the two leaders is-
sued a joint statement declaring that both would
seek to reach an agreement on intermediate-range
missiles.
Final Agreement In late 1985, negotiations began
in earnest, as the issues to be covered in the INF
Treaty were fully separated from the issues being ne-
gotiated elsewhere. The United States retreated from
the “zero option,” instead proposing that each coun-
try agree to maintain equal numbers of weapon sys-
tems, putting the brakes on the intermediate-range
arms race. In early 1986, the Soviet Union proposed
doing away with all U.S. and Soviet intermediate-
range nuclear forces. The United States responded
by proposing a limited number for each country, not
only in Europe but also in Asia. The United States
also proposed cutting back the number of short-
range forces. At a 1986 summit, the nations’ two
leaders agreed to eliminate INF missiles in Europe
and to limit the number elsewhere.
In 1987, things moved swiftly in both directions.
Based on the talks at the 1986 summit, the United
States proposed provisions to allow on-site verifica-
tion. In July, the Soviet Union accepted these provi-
sions and proposed that the treaty do away with all in-
termediate- and short-range forces. The Soviets also
wanted German missiles to be included in the treaty,
but the United States rejected this proposal, saying it
was to be a bilateral treaty between the two superpow-
ers alone. However, in August, Germany announced
that it would dismantle its intermediate-range mis-
siles. In September, a basic agreement was reached.
On December 8, 1987, the treaty doing away with
short-range and intermediate-range weapons every-
where was signed by the leaders of both countries.
During the ratification process by the U.S. Senate,
three related agreements were made that clarified
various provisions of the treaty. It was ratified in May,
1988, and entered into force on June 1, 1988.
Impact Unlike most arms control treaties during
the Cold War, the INF Treaty did not just limit the
number of missiles in a category; it eliminated them
altogether. It was the first major treaty allowing on-site
inspections for compliance, a provision made fa-
mous by President Reagan’s slogan, “Trust, but ver-
ify.” Most previous treaties had mandated either ap-
proximately equal cuts by both sides or more cuts by
the United States. In this treaty, the Soviet Union dis-
mantled about twice as many weapon systems as did
the United States. By May, 1991, all INF weapons—
totaling around twenty-seven hundred—had been
dismantled or destroyed, and about 850 on-site in-
spections had been conducted. The treaty’s provi-
sions were thus enforced in conjunction with the
end of the Cold War, signaled by the fall of the Berlin
Wall in 1989 and the collapse of the Soviet Union in- The treaty also brought to an end the strong
antinuclear movement that had developed in the
United States and Western Europe, as nuclear anni-
hilation no longer seemed a realistic threat.
Further Reading
Glitman, Maynard W., and William F. Burns.The Last
Battle of the Cold War: An Inside Account of Negoti-
ating the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.
New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. Co-written
by the chief American negotiator of the treaty,
this work contains rare insights into the negotia-
tion process.
Reagan, Ronald.Speaking My Mind: Selected Speeches.
New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004. Contains the
speech Reagan made during the signing cere-
mony, as well other speeches indicative of his rhe-
torical tone with regard to the Cold War.
U.S. Department of State. Treaty Between the
United States of America and the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics on the Elimination of Their
Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles.
http://www.state.gov/www/global/arms/treaties/
inf1.html Part of the Department of State’s per-
manent electronic archive, this introductory page
contains links to the text of the treaty and agree-
ments implementing the treaty.
Donald A. WattSee also Cold War;Day After, The; Foreign policy of
the United States; Nuclear winter scenario; Reagan,
Ronald; Reagan Doctrine; Reagan’s “Evil Empire”
speech; Soviet Union and North America.The Eighties in America Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty 521