Non-Proliferation and the Dynamics of the Middle Cold War: The Superpowers, the MLF, and the NPT

During the 1960s, the United States and the Soviet Union contended both with one another and with the members of their respective alliances in attempting to deal with the issues raised by nuclear proliferation. These negotiations, which covered a number of matters but centred on the conflict between a non-proliferation agreement and NATO plans for nuclear sharing, illustrate in microcosm some of the most important geopolitical trends of the middle Cold War. This episode was in certain diplomatic and conceptual respects an important precursor to détente. It also illuminated the declining ability of the United States and the Soviet Union to manage their respective European alliances, as well as the degree to which Russo-American cooperation further strained these partnerships. Finally, the negotiations and their aftermath showed that, in geostrategic terms, Moscow and Washington had much in common during the 1960s.