GRAND COMPROMISE

SDI could end the arms-control stalemate

President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative has had a stunningly paradoxical effect on arms control. The American effort to create a shield against enemy missiles has given the Soviets a fresh incentive to develop new offensive weapons that would burst the remaining bonds of the arms-control process, which has been in stalemate. Yet it has also given the Soviets an incentive to return to the bargaining table and offer serious proposals in the hope of tightening the bonds of arms control around SDI itself. If there is a summit in November or December, Reagan the Star Warrior might be able to extract...

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