Alexander CekalaSALT I and II
Today's post is going to be a brief overview of SALT 1 and 2 (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks).
What was SALT?
The talks, between the Soviet Union and the United States, aimed to limit the number of nuclear warheads owned by both countries.
SALT 1
This froze the number of missile launchers, only allowing new ones to be built if old ones were dismantled. It also restricted the number of anti-ballistic missile systems that each country could be dveloped.
While the talks took some time by 1971 some agreement had been found.
SALT 2
Following this SALT 2 finalised many of the agreements. However, the US senate never ratified the agreement, although the country followed it never-the-less.
After this...
The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty continued the process.
Context
The Cold War had led to an arms race where both countries had competed to build the most nuclear warheads. This was part of a concept of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD), which made it so dangerous for either country to attack the other that they would in theory remain peaceful.
While SALT still left enough warheads for MAD it was part of a move away from such hostile relations and in that sense was a positive step.
That's it for today,
Adam
