М Е Ж Д У Н А Р О Д Н А Я А Н А Л И Т И К А 11 (4): 2020
39
Исследовательские статьи
Solving the Strategic Equation:
Integrating Missile Defense
and Conventional Weapons in
U.S.–Russian Arms Control
Andrey A. Baklitskiy
https://doi.org/10.46272/2587-8476-2020-11-4-39-55
ABSTRACT
With the New START treaty extension, Moscow and Washington are on course for new arms control
negotiations. The unprecedented breadth of the strategic bilateral agenda issues means that any
future talks would entail extensive linkages and trade-off s in various spheres. The article explores
two of the domains that would inevitably have to be addressed in future negotiations – missile
defense and strategic conventional weapons. Missile defense was an integral part of U.S.–Russian
arms control from early on, most prominently refl ected in the ABM treaty of 1972. However, a deep
look into the current state and trajectory of U.S. missile defense developments suggests that instead
of focusing on the “strategic” interceptors in the continental U.S., the aim should be on regulating
new mobile systems, which pose a more signifi cant threat to the strategic stability and might be
more amenable to limitations. Strategic conventional weapons are less clearly defi ned, and there is
less arms control experience with dealing with them. On occasions where they were subject to arms
control regulations, they were either banned or included in the strategic nuclear forces limits. With
many types of strategic conventional weapons, it does not seem that a one-size-fi ts-all approach is
feasible. Some of the newer systems might remain too niche to have an impact on strategic stability.
With the most ubiquitous strategic conventional weapons – long-range cruise missiles – a framework
of asymmetric limits might be considered.
KEYWORDS
аrms control, missiles defense, strategic conventional weapons,
strategic equation, U.S.–Russian relations
