Disarmament out of the Dustbin | Sojourners

Disarmament out of the Dustbin

In April, 1962, President John Kennedy publicly announced a detailed proposal for reversing the arms race, starting with the Soviet Union and the United States, and extending to include all armed states. Given the title Blueprint for the Peace Race, the proposal carried the imprint of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA). This was the last, hence latest, disarmament proposal by the U.S. government.

The comprehensive plan was presented to an international committee on disarmament at Geneva. It provides for a three-stage reversal of the entire arms race, both nuclear and non-nuclear, to be accomplished over a 10-year period. The scheme accommodates the differences in United States-Soviet Union arms and forces and provides for no change in relative military position on the way down. It takes into account inspection requirements and includes all militarily significant states. It also contains provisions for building up international peace-keeping arrangements to improve capability for resolving international conflict by non-military means.

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