Prevention of Nuclear War Agreement

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The Prevention of Nuclear War Agreement was created to reduce the danger of nuclear war between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The agreement was signed in Washington, D.C. on June 22, 1973 during a relative period of detente. United States and the U.S.S.R. agreed to reduce the threat of a nuclear war and establish a policy to restrain hostility. ^[1] It was viewed as a preliminary step toward preventing the outbreak of nuclear war or military conflict by adopting an attitude of international cooperation.

Together with the Basic Principles Agreement, it represented an attempt to establish 'rules' for superpower competition during the Cold War. The bilateral agreement with multilateral implications outlines the general conduct of both countries and toward third world countries. The Parties agreed that in a situation which threatened to escalate into direct nuclear confrontation, whether it be directly or by proxy in the Third World, to urgently consult with each other.

The agreement basically covers two main areas:

1. It outlines the general conduct of both countries toward each other and toward third countries regarding the avoidance of nuclear war. In this respect it is a bilateral agreement with multilateral implications.

2. The Parties agreed that in a situation in which the two great nuclear countries find themselves in a nuclear confrontation or in which, either as a result of their policies toward each other or as the result of developments elsewhere in the world, there is a danger of a nuclear confrontation between them or any other country, they are committed to consult with each other in order to avoid this risk.

-U.S. State Department, Agreement Between The United States of America and The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Prevention of Nuclear War

The agreement further provides that these consultations may be communicated to the United Nations and to other countries, a clause the United States, of course, applies to its allies. Article VI stipulates that nothing in the agreement shall affect formal alliance obligations or the inherent right of countries to defend themselves.