SCMUN
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Détente Conference
Secondary Issue: Continuation of the
SALT II Talks
i. Preamble
Welcome to SCMUN 2014! We are Natasha, Yi Ern and Amrit and we will be your everfriendly and approachable chairs for this detente conference. The three of us have actively
participated in numerous conferences over the past 2 years, including SCMUN 2013. Should any
of you have doubts or queries, do not hesitate to approach any of us- we’d be more than willing
to help! For those of you who are new to MUN, it’s natural to feel nervous or unconfident at your
first MUN, but just remember to always be open to learning new things and let SCMUN be the
first stepping stone in your fulfilling MUN journey ahead! As for those experienced munners, we
hope that being in the detente conference would expose all of you to a new spectrum of debate
and exposure to global issues. All the best!
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The primary evolvement of the detente conference circulates itself during the period of the
cold war, whereby “detente” refers to the mitigation of the geo-political strain between the Soviet
Union and the United States. The detente conference acts as a major forum for neutrals to voice
their concerns and deals with a diverse range of issues, namely the need to reduce Cold War
tensions, colonialism, and, importantly, nuclear proliferation. The detente conference aims to find
a solution to end the cold war, or at the least, eradicate the possibility of a potential nuclear war.
ii. Glossary
SALT: Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
NATO: an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was
signed on 4 April 1949 [Wikipedia]
ABM treaty: A treaty Between The United States of America and The Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics on The Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems [US Department of State]
Interim Agreement: A temporary solution to be carried out while a more detailed, in depth and
feasible resolution is being drafted.
MAD(Mutual Assured Destruction) : a doctrine of military strategy and national security policy in
which a full-scale use of high-yield weapons of mass destruction by two opposing sides would
cause the complete annihilation of both the attacker and the defender [Wikipedia]
START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty): a bilateral treaty between the United States of
America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) on the Reduction and Limitation of
Strategic Offensive Arms [Wikipedia]
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iii. Introduction to Issue
SALT I, the first series of Strategic Arms .Limitation Talks, stretched from 1969 to 1972 at
that time, the United States and the Soviet Union negotiated the first agreements to place limits
and restraints on some of their central and most important armaments. The United States was the
first to suggest dissociating them from comprehensive disarmament plans -- proposing that the
two sides should "explore a verified freeze of the number and characteristics of their strategic
nuclear offensive and defensive vehicles."
The White House together with the Kremlin announced that the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
would begin in Helsinki on November 17, 1969, "for preliminary discussion of the questions
involved.
In the first session of the talks, each side gained a better understanding of the others views and of
the range of questions to be considered. It was decided upon that the talks would be confidential,
to encourage a free exchange, and the stage was set for the main negotiations. One of the
agreements that they made was to ban nuclear tests in the atmosphere, space, and under water,
and to ban the nuclear powers from providing nuclear weapons or technology to non-nuclear
nations. Furthermore, they came to an agreement that the moon and the planets are to be used
for peaceful purposes only.
In addition, there were direct communications link between Kremlin and the White House to
prevent accidental nuclear war and speed up diplomatic messages during crises, and Nixon even
travels to Russia and China and establishes new spirit of détente. After two and a half years of
negotiation, the first round of SALT ended on May 26, 1972, after President Nixon and General
Secretary Brezhnev signed the ABM Treaty and the Interim Agreement on strategic offensive
arms. SALT-I marked the start of the first arms limitation agreement since the start of the cold war,
and also paved way for more arms limitation talks.
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SALT II negotiations began in 1972. The main goal of SALT II was to replace the Interim
Agreement with a long-term comprehensive Treaty providing broad limits on strategic offensive
weaponry. The principal objectives as the SALT II negotiations began were to provide for equal
numbers of strategic nuclear delivery vehicles for the sides, to start the process of reduction of
these delivery vehicles, and to pose restraints on developments which could threaten future
stability. Both sides agreed to a basic framework for the SALT II agreement. However, the renewal
and expansion of the SALT-I is not confirmed by the American Senate and opportunity for further
agreement was lost after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which led to non-ratification of the
SALT-II by the United States.
iv. Current Situation
In the USA, when the Republicans took office, the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT)
were promptly recast as the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START). A new round of talks,
or START, replaced SALT beginning in 1983. The agreement would establish a limit of 1,600
strategic nuclear delivery vehicles and 6,000 accountable warheads per country, while enabling
weaponry modernization to continue. There is still a need for long-term comprehensive treaty
providing broad limits on strategic offensive weapons systems, as numerous conferences and
agreements have been made but ultimately prove to be inept due to ideological differences
between countries.
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*Delegates are to take note that information regarding the current situation is only provided such
delegates will have a better understanding of the general direction of debate and will be able to
assess how effective past solutions have. The current situation should not be discussed during
council sessions but should simply act as a guide for the flow of debate.
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v. Problems
U.S. and USSR emerged from the World War II as the only two nations on earth that could
hope to propagate their social and political systems on a worldwide scale. Each gained powerful
military forces; each espoused globally expansive ideologies; each feared and distrusted the
other. However, one of the main reasons why the SALT II talks were not ratified by the United
States was because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviets entered Afghanistan in
1979 with the aim of establishing a key location in Asia, one with trade as a possibility and access
to Gulf oil. The Soviet invasion in Afghanistan elicited a strong reaction from all over the world.
America condemned the occupation immediately and responded by sending hundreds of millions
of dollars’ worth of guns and food to Afghanistan to aid the mujahidin and the refugees. The
United Nations thus voted to condemn the action, and repeatedly urged the USSR to pull out.
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vi. Direction of Debate
It is essential that the council comes to an agreement on specific quotas on the number of
nuclear weapons that can be possessed by each party, and more importantly, ensure that these
quotas are strictly abided by, through the implementation of guidelines. The council should also
keep in mind the SALT 1 talks, and assess its strengths while remembering not to heavily depend
on the solutions which were successfully implemented. In the same way, delegates are strongly
urged to re-assess the root causes of the failure of the SALT II talks and be cautious not to make
the same mistakes. We hope that all delegates will be able to delve deeper into understanding
these questions and during the conference will analyse and debate the different aspects of the
issue.
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vii. Possible Solutions
Evaluating the effectiveness of the SALT-I talks will definitely help to give you a jump start
into understanding the impacts and usefulness of the talks. While weighing and evaluating the
pros and cons of the talks, consider what other ideas can be proposed to aid the ending of the
cold war.
Having a deeper understanding of the major events that built up to the cold war also can help to
come up with possible solutions. Such events may include:
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1945: February 4-11 – Yalta Conference in the presence of Franklin Roosevelt
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1947: March – Truman declares active role in Greek Civil War
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1947: June – Marshall Plan is announced (European Recovery Program was the main
program, 1947–51, of the United States for re-establishing and creating a stronger
economic foundation for the countries of Western Europe)
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1948: February – Communist takeover in Czechoslovakia
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1948: June 24 – Berlin Blockade
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1949: July – North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ratified
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1949: September – Mao Zedong takes control of China
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1949: September – Soviets explode first atomic bomb
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1950: June – Korean War begins
Looking into such events may help you identify the root causes of the Cold War and the impacts
that these events had on the Cold War, in an attempt to come up with feasible solutions in ending
the war. However, not all of these events may help you in coming up with possible solutions, but
understanding the sequence of events and cause of conflict is definitely beneficial.
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http://www.state.gov/t/isn/5195.htm
viii. Further research
http://www.nti.org/treaties-and-regimes/strategic-arms-limitation-talks-salt-ii/
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ix. Summary
The SALT II talks were not as successful as the SALT I talks as they were not ratified due to
the invasion in Afghanistan. However, these talks were a big step in helping to combat the Cold
War, and without them, progress in this aspect would be hindered. The more powerful nations
such as the USSR and the US were not willing to work together, and condemned each other,
further impeding on the ability to continue these talks and to take a step in achieving any form of
agreement on the weaponry and vehicles. Even though there still are partied in Afghanistan, we
do not think that countries such as the US should still be putting as many resources into that
because this is the more pertinent issue that needs to be dealt with immediately, so looking into
the successes of the first SALT talks would also be useful. Furthermore, researching on the cold
war and understanding the specific need for these salt talks would further help to roll out a new
agreement.
Seeing as how both these countries, the US and the USSR were able to work together in the
beginning to try and find a solution, and in signing the agreement during the first SALT talks, we
think that now it is more pertinent than ever to find a way to get these countries to work together
again, starting with getting the US to forgive, or at least put aside the actions of the USSR in
Afghanistan to focus on this issue. The cooperation of both countries together is extremely
essential, being the two most powerful countries to come out of the Second World War.
x. Bibliography
https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/NATO.html
http://www.state.gov/t/avc/trty/101888.htm
hhttp://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CRPT-111erpt6/html/CRPT-111erpt6.htm
Http://www.fas.org/spp/starwars/congress/1996/s960126a.htm
www.ipu.org/PDF/publications/nnp-e.pdf
https://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/handbook-2011.pdf
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