The Big Five: Arms Control Decision-Making in the Soviet Union

by Alexander' G. Savel'yev, Nikolay N. Detinov

Overview

Based primarily on the authors' personal experiences, this is the first study to reveal the inside story of how arms control decisions were made in the former Soviet Union. Savel'yev and General-Lieutenant Detinov participated directly in the decision-making process from 1969, when the Big Five was established, to the end of 1991, when the USSR was dissolved. They pay special attention to activities of the Politburo Commission for the Supervision of the Negotiations—the Big Five—and its working body, the interagency group known as the Five. They describe the key moments and main changes in the Soviet positions at SALT-I, SALT-II, INF, START, and DST.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275946913
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	03/30/1995
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	741,888
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.62(d)
Lexile:	1430L (what's this?)

About the Author

ALEKSANDR' G. SAVEL'YEV is vice president of the independent Institute for National Security and Strategic Studies in Moscow. Savel'yev participated in the Soviet-American Nuclear and Space Talks in Geneva as an advisor to the Soviet delegation and as a representative of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. He is the author of a number of scholarly works on strategic and security issues and a member of the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London.

NIKOLAY N. DETINOV, during the period from the end of the 1960s until the early 1990s, was among a handful of individuals actively involved in crafting the Soviet position for arms control negotiations. He was one of a small group which evolved into the Big Five. He oversaw the creation of its decision-making mechanisms and participated in its day-to-day operations. He participated in the Vladivostok Summit between Brezhnev and Ford (1974), the Helsinki Conference (1976) and the Soviet American Nuclear and Space Talks (START, INF, and Defense and Space, 1985-1991). General Detinov is presently a senior analyst in a scientific center of the Russian Academy of Sciences and a participant in the Russian-American joint Global Protection Program.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations and Acronyms
Acknowledgments
The Historical Background
The Politburo Commission for the Negotiations
The Big Five and the Small Five
The SALT-II Talks: The Decision-Making Mechanism in Action
"Euromissiles" and the Principle of Equal Security
The START Negotiations and the Final Period of Superpower Confrontation
The Returban to the Negotiations: The Prelude to Perestroyka
The Krasnoyarsk Affair
Perestroyka and the Further Refinement of the Decision-Making Mechanism
Medium-Range Nuclear Weapons Negotiations: Was the "Zero Option" Really So Bad?
The START Treaty: Who Made Concessions to Whom?
The Difficult Path to the START Treaty
Defense and Space Issues: A Field for Future Negotiations
The Big Five: From Its Birth to Its Death
Reflections
Index

Editorial Reviews

Insiders in the process between 1979 and 1991 reveal how decisions were made within the Soviet government regarding arms control, focusing on the activities of the Politburo Commission for the Supervision of the Negotiations, called The Big Five and its interagency working body, The Five. They describe how policy was established and changed at SALT-I, SALT-II, INF, START, and DST. They also argue that current Russian arms-control policy is poorly made in bitter struggles between the parties and could do with some of the interagency cooperation and compromise of the Soviet approach. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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