The nuclear arms race was perhaps the most alarming feature of the Cold War competition between the United States and Soviet Union. Over the decades, the two sides signed various arms control agreements as a means to manage their rivalry and limit the risk of nuclear war, avoiding mutually assured destruction.
The Limited Test Ban Treaty
August 5, 1963
After years of on-again, off-again negotiations, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States reached an agreement to ban nuclear explosions in the atmosphere, outer space, and under water, and significantly restrict underground testing. The Limited Test Ban Treaty emerged in the aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis…
Read moreThe Moscow-Washington Hotline
August 30, 1963
In a significant historical moment on August 30, 1963, John F. Kennedy made history by becoming the first U.S. president to establish a direct phone line to the Kremlin in Moscow, known as the “hotline.” This hotline was specifically designed to enable direct communication between the U.S. president and the…
Read moreA Non-Proliferation Victory?
July 1, 1968
The pursuit of nuclear weapons by more states led to calls for an international framework to halt proliferation. Discussions on a treaty began at the United Nations in 1959. After multiple drafts, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States signed the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear…
Read moreTensions Thaw
May 26, 1972
The late 1960s and early 1970s saw a general thawing of U.S.-Soviet relations, ushering in a hopeful era of nuclear arms control, which became most apparent in the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, or SALT. The two sides forged a pair of groundbreaking agreements in 1972: the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty…
Read moreThe Threshold Test Ban Treaty
July 1, 1974
In July 1974, the two countries agreed to sign the Threshold Test Ban Treaty, which prohibited underground tests with a yield exceeding 150 kilotons.
Read moreA New Addition
May 28, 1976
The two superpowers sign a similar treaty, the Peaceful Nuclear Explosions Treaty, with the same ceiling limit for nuclear explosions for “peaceful” purposes.
Read moreSALT II
June 1, 1979
In June 1979, the United States and Soviet Union sign a SALT II agreement that would have placed further limits on their nuclear weapons and launch platforms, including strategic bombers, and imposed certain notification requirements and new testing bans. But in December, the Soviet Union invades Afghanistan, starting a nine-year…
Read moreThe Reykjavik Summit
October 11, 1986
In October 1986, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and President Reagan held an extraordinary meeting in Iceland, where they came close to agreeing on abolishing their offensive nuclear weapons within a decade. Earlier, in Geneva, they had jointly declared that a “nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.”…
Read moreThe Nation Rises: Nevada-Semipalatinsk
February 28, 1989
The Nevada-Semipalatinsk Movement, the first anti-nuclear protest movement in the USSR, was founded in 1989. This movement was spearheaded by the author and masterful orator, Olzhas Suleimenov. Its primary objective was to voice opposition against the extensive Soviet nuclear testing that had been ongoing in Kazakhstan since 1949. Ultimately, the…
Read moreKazakhstan Gains Independence
October 25, 1990
October 25, 1990, holds immense significance for the citizens of Kazakhstan, representing a pivotal moment in their history. On this historic day, Kazakhstan declared its sovereignty, marking the beginning of a new era in the nation’s development. The Declaration of Independence served as the foundational legislation for the emerging country,…
Read moreKazakhstan Demonstrates Its Resilience: 40 Years of Nuclear Testing Conclude
August 29, 1991
The last nuclear test conducted at the Semipalatinsk Test Site occurred in November 1989 at Balapan, marking the final chapter of nuclear testing in the area. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan gained independence and became the custodian of the site. President Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan officially closed the…
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