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To the surprise of Western capitals, Moscow last week agreed to attend the 18-nation conference on disarmament that will reconvene in Geneva July 27. Under the circumstances, however, the outlook for an effective anti-proliferation treaty seems dim. Nearly all the nations capable of making the bomb have already signified that they will not be parties to any such agreement, since it would not be binding on Peking, the pivot of proliferation. As a result, influential voices in the Administration now argue that Washington can best avert a nuclear stampede by a vigorous new series of strategic initiatives, ranging from an Asian multilateral force to worldwide collective-security guarantees under which the U.S. would retaliate against any atomic aggressor. It will be immensely difficult to head off a race in which the stakes have risen so high. Yet the U.S. has no logical choice but to pursue this objective by all possible means. This side of chaos, the nations concerned may yet realize that this is the only logical course for them as well.