cover image Closing Pandora's Box: Arms Races, Arms Control, and the History of the Cold War

Closing Pandora's Box: Arms Races, Arms Control, and the History of the Cold War

Patrick Glynn. Basic Books, $30 (445pp) ISBN 978-0-465-09809-5

A Reagan-era special assistant to the director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency argues that the pursuit of arms-control agreements has historically coincided with periods of weakness and self-doubt in America. After WW I, according to Glynn, the idea took hold that the conflict had resulted from a prewar ``arms race'' and that the key to peace lay in disarmament. In his view, liberal-pacifist assumptions blinded Western leaders to the growing threat of Nazi Germany in the 1930s and, during WW II, to the dangers posed by the Soviet Union. Similarly, in the 1970s, totalitarian states interpreted as weakness U.S. officials' eagerness to sign arms agreements. President Reagan, reacting to the deterioration of the defense establishment, restricted trade with the Soviets, launched a massive military buildup and deployed U.S. forces around the world. At the same time, Glynn stresses, he laid the groundwork behind the scenes for a better relationship with the Soviets. Controversial and well argued. ( May )