Patrick Homan - Getting to 67: The Post-Cold War Politics of Arms Control Treaty Ratification

First published 2016
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There are a number of individuals who I would like to acknowledge and thank for their contribution to this book. First of all, I would like to thank my dissertation advisor, Dr. Christopher M. Jones, for all of his help with this project. Dr. Jones spent countless hours lending me his expertise and advice, and this book would have never happened without his tireless efforts. I would also like to thank the other members of my dissertation committee, Drs. Matthew Streb, Norrin Ripsman, and James M. Scott, who were all extremely helpful in guiding me through this project. Furthermore, there are many mentors, colleagues, and panelists from Northern Illinois University, Dominican University, and the International Studies Association that deserve my gratitude for their wonderful input over the years. I would also like to thank Dominican University and the Faculty Development Committee for providing me with a grant to help me finish this project in the summer of 2014. Moreover, this book could never have been completed without the help of two extremely bright and hardworking students Angela Ribaudo and Maggie Angel. Lastly, I would like to thank my family and friends for all their support throughout the years.

Thank you.

During the Cold War, politics stops at the waters edge was the unofficial congressional code of conduct in U.S. foreign policymaking. This united, bipartisan consensus was manifested across a range of issue areas, including the ratification of arms control treaties. For example, Democratic President Lyndon Johnson initiated the first round of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I) with the Soviet Union. However, President Richard Nixon, a Republican, negotiated and signed the treaty that followed. When SALT I was transmitted to the Senate for advice and consent in May 1972, it took only three months for the treaty to be considered. Despite the looming presidential election, SALT I was easily ratified by a vote of 882 in August 1972. The fact that more Democrats voted for SALT I than Republicans exemplified the absence of politics throughout the ratification process.

In contrast, domestic politics have significantly impacted attempts to ratify arms control treaties in the post-Cold War era. The most recent and clearest example of this phenomenon occurred during President Barack Obamas first term. The hyper-partisan environment of 2010 led the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) to languish in the Senate for nine months as lawmakers debated its substance and value. In fact, the final vote on ratification had to be postponed until after the 2010 midterm elections to ensure partisan political considerations did not impact the decisions of individual senators. In the end, despite the treatys Republican pedigree, which extended back to the Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations, Senate Republicans nearly defeated the treaty. When New START was finally approved in December 2010 by a vote of 7126, only 13 Senate Republicans voted in favor of ratification; and all 26 senators who opposed the pact were Republican. Given the respective levels of ease and difficulty with which SALT I and New START were ratified, it appears that the politics of arms control ratification has changed over the past 40 years. But what explains this?