Treaty Between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems (ABM Treaty)

Full Text: http://www.state.gov/www/global/arms/treaties/abmpage.html

The two parties agreed to deploy only one anti-ballistic missile system defending an individual region, either an ICBM site or the national capital. (The original treaty allowed both sites to be protected, but a 1976 amendment limited it to one site. The Soviet Union chose to protect Moscow. The United States protected a site in North Dakota for a short while, but the system was dismantled in 1976.) In this way, each remains vulnerable to the other’s nuclear arsenal. This tends to stabilize relations by avoiding the need for a further arms race involving defensive systems and countermeasures. The treaty is intended to ensure that deterrence, through mutually assured destruction, keeps the peace by rendering each party equally vulnerable.

Entered into force October 3, 1972.

On Thursday, December 13, 2001, President George W. Bush gave formal notice to Russia that the United States would exercise its right to withdraw from the treaty.