Last Word on the INF… for Now
I have a few more thoughts on INF withdrawal. First, another post at the Diplomat, framing arms control in technological and structural context:
The problem is that arms control agreements depend on particular constellations of power relations and on particular technological contexts. If either changes, then the arms control agreement becomes precarious. On the technological side, this should be painfully obvious; maintaining the Washington Naval Treaty after World War II would have been pointless, as the United States and the Soviet Union had no need of a treaty to limit battleships because neither had need for battleships.
I also recorded a pair of podcasts on the subject, the first with Ankit Panda of the Diplomat, and the second with Dr. Jacqueline Whitt of the US Army War College. Give ’em a listen…