Anti-Ballistic Missiles and Arms Control

I start the empirical part of this book with the case of anti-ballistic missile arms control in the 1960s/1970s. In contrast to the nonregime in the case of space weapons, we can observe the emergence of an international regime of preventive arms control here. I start this chapter with a brief introduction to the technical background of anti-ballistic missiles and describe the ABM programs and policies of the Soviet Union and the United States before the ABM Treaty of 1972. Then, I give an overview of the ABM arms control regime as it was established by the provisions of the ABM Treaty. I conclude the chapter with an analysis of the process of regime-building by applying the theoretical considerations to the case. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.