| Between 1963 and 1972, the U.S. government negotiated seven arms control treaties that had a major impact on American strategic nuclear forces. This dissertation seeks to demonstrate that the U.S. military had significant influence on American proposals and negotiating strategies during the preparation and negotiation of these treaties. This argument contradicts the consensus views found in the secondary literature that suggests the military had a negligible impact on the arms control process and was an obstacle to reaching viable multilateral and bilateral accords.; The military's view of arms control was based on its understanding of history, its prior use of nuclear weapons, and its nuclear war-fighting doctrine. The military assumed that the development of arms control proposals should focus on an adversary's military capabilities.; The military argued that an adversary's intentions, which played a central role in civilian deterrence strategy, were difficult to gauge and subject to change. Thus the assessment of Soviet intentions played only a minor role in the military's evaluation of arms control proposals. |
