The Politics of Verification

An exploration of causes of verification controversies and the processes through which they are perpetuated or provisionally resolved. It concludes that the end of the Cold War altered the arms control context without resolving questions about the appropriate amount and type of verification.

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An exploration of the causes of verification controversies and the processes through which they are perpetuated or provisionally resolved. By examining nuclear test ban negotiations from the Eisenhower through the Clinton administrations, Gallagher finds that the assumptions about verification that have dominated US policy shape domestic debates in ways that hinder stable agreement on significant test restrictions. She then focuses on the dynamic interconnections between domestic and international politics, and analyzes the slow process of coalition building when conflicting interests and ideas create divisions both among and inside states. Gallagher concludes that the end of the Cold War has altered the arms control context without resolving basic questions about the appropriate amount and type of verification. Thus, the negotiation and ratification of major co-operative accords will continue to be shaped by verification compromises and coalitions.