Interview with Paul Warnke, 1986

Item Information

Title:
Interview with Paul Warnke, 1986
Description:
Paul Warnke was chief negotiator for the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) II during the Jimmy Carter administration and director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency from 1977 to 1979. In the interview Warnke conducted for War and Peace in the Nuclear Age, he explains the purpose and promise of arms control and shares his view that it’s a “step-by-step process,” like getting down from a tree one branch at a time to “end up on solid ground.” Warnke challenges his critics, many of whom argued that the United States must develop more weapons to close a “window of vulnerability.” In arms control negotiations, he feels that each side must possess the “strategic comfort” that its retaliatory capability is preserved, and at the same time must accept that neither country can gain and maintain strategic nuclear superiority. Warnke warns against an unconstrained arms race that could lead to a dangerous hair-trigger stance or a preemptive first strike. He reiterates the often harsh debate between the Carter administration and Congress over strategic policy, weapons development, linkage, and arms negotiations. Warnke himself faced some tough challenges. He defends his advocacy of “reciprocal restraint” and his support during the 1960s and 1970s of particular weapons systems, rejecting the stance that these were “decades of neglect.” Warnke recounts President Carter’s initial proposals to bypass SALT II in favor of deeper arms reductions, explains why the Soviet Union rejected the comprehensive package, and discusses the return to the Vladivostok agreement of 1974. He also contrasts the political climate, public mood, and presidential power that ensured the ratification of SALT I but disabled SALT II. During his career, Warnke remained a strong proponent of SALT II for the reductions it achieved and the framework it established for subsequent negotiations.
Interviewee:
Warnke, Paul C., 1920-2001
Date:
November 19, 1986
Format:
Film/Video
Location:
WGBH
Collection (local):
WGBH Open Vault
Series:
War and Peace in the Nuclear Age
Subjects:
Nitze, Paul H.
First strike (Nuclear strategy)
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
Submarine-launched ballistic missiles
Deterrence (Strategy)
Reagan, Ronald
Cruise missiles
Nuclear warfare
Soviet Union
Intercontinental ballistic missiles
Nuclear arms control
Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962
Trident (Weapons systems)
Nuclear weapons
Mormon Church
Neutron bomb
Multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks II
Perle, Richard Norman, 1941-
Gromyko, Andrei Andreevich, 1909-1989
Carter, Jimmy, 1924-
McNamara, Robert S., 1916-2009
Soviet Union. Treaties, etc. United States, 1972 May 26 (ABM), 1972 May 26 (ABM)
Nixon, Richard M. (Richard Milhous), 1913-1994
United States. Congress
Places:
District of Columbia > Washington
China
Somalia
Afghanistan
Extent:
01:16:11:25
Link to Item:
https://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_12C9C3E486D44769A6AF4B243D6D5E4E
Terms of Use:
Rights status not evaluated.
Contact host institution for more information.
Publisher:
WGBH Educational Foundation
Identifier:
V_12C9C3E486D44769A6AF4B243D6D5E4E