Interview with Roland Timerbaev, 1986 [1]

Item Information

Title:
Interview with Roland Timerbaev, 1986 [1]
Description:
Roland Timerbaev, a world expert in the area of nuclear non-proliferation, served on the Soviet delegation of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) and was deputy director of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1964 to 1985. In the interview Timerbaev conducted for War and Peace in the Nuclear Age: “One Step Forward,” he explains that the Soviet goals for SALT I were to achieve a quick, realistic agreement, then to continue, step by step, through a series of increasingly “radical” solutions. He concludes that in the time since SALT I, the Soviets have revised their thinking to accelerate the process toward disarmament. He identifies factors, such as the Vietnam War and the increasing Soviet offensive capability, that led to the initiation of SALT I. He recounts some of the challenges that arose at the talks, such as the difficulty of arriving at shared definitions, ongoing Soviet concerns about the unilateral U.S. advantages of European forward-based missiles, and resentment toward U.S. Congressional efforts to use arms control and trade to leverage changes in Soviet domestic policy. The Soviet position, Timerbaev continues, rejects the doctrine of Mutual Assured Destruction and holds nuclear disarmament as its overarching goal. Although limited in its ability to bring about actual arms reduction, SALT I earned Timerbaev’s praise as “the most important agreement ever achieved in the field of arms limitation” because of its historic significance as the first such agreement between the superpowers.
Interviewee:
Timerbaev, R. M. (Roland Makhmutovich)
Date:
November 26, 1986
Format:
Film/Video
Location:
WGBH
Collection (local):
WGBH Open Vault
Series:
War and Peace in the Nuclear Age
Subjects:
Intercontinental ballistic missiles
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
Antimissile missiles
Middle East
Nuclear weapons--Testing
Nuclear arms control
Vietnam War, 1961-1975
Nuclear disarmament
Soviet Union
Multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles
Nuclear weapons
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Mutual assured destruction
Soviet Union. Treaties, etc. United States, 1972 May 26 (ABM), 1972 May 26 (ABM)
Nixon, Richard M. (Richard Milhous), 1913-1994
Jackson, Henry M. (Henry Martin), 1912-1983
Kissinger, Henry, 1923-
McNamara, Robert S., 1916-2009
United States. Congress
Places:
New York > New York
China
Extent:
00:54:09:07
Link to Item:
https://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_26815B9873DD47CAB192FE09F6124847
Terms of Use:
Rights status not evaluated.
Contact host institution for more information.
Publisher:
WGBH Educational Foundation
Identifier:
V_26815B9873DD47CAB192FE09F6124847