SALT Treaties: Cold War Arms Control Efforts from 1969 to 1979

From 1969 to 1979, the US and the Soviet Union held the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, or SALT, to curb the nuclear arms race. They reached two main agreements: SALT I in 1972 and SALT II in 1979, but only SALT I was actually put into action. The goal was to reduce the chances of nuclear conflict during a period of détente. Back in 1969, the US had 27,552 nuclear warheads compared to the Soviet Union's 10,538. SALT I included the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and limited the growth of ICBMs. Although SALT II sought to balance delivery systems and restrict MIRV missiles, it never got ratified due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Eventually, tensions escalated, leading to the US withdrawing from treaties like the ABM in 2001 and the INF in 2019, stalling nonproliferation efforts despite earlier treaties.