START II AND BEYOND. Arms Control Today, October 1996, pp. 3-9.

"Although the START I and START II accords have generated the momentum opportunity and expectation -- both domestic and international -- for additional nuclear arms reductions, the current impasse over ratification in the Duma has cast a shadow over the future of START II and raised questions about the chances for any follow-on (START III) agreement." Jack Mendelsohn, deputy director of the Arms Control Association and who was on the U.S. SALT II and START I delegations contends that "a vital step is to issue as soon as possible a joint presidential-level 'statement of principles' reaffirming both sides' commitment to the arms reduction process and to negotiate a START III agreement in the shortest possible time." The author concludes, saying that [...] whatever force reductions are projected fort START III and beyond, they will be possible only to the extent that Russia and the United States constrain the deployment of missile defenses, remain confident in the stability of the strategic relationship and continue to construct a more cooperative political environment."