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around which other states tend to group.
97
One may think of the present as the
age of the Big Two or the Rig Three or even the Big Five.
It is not yet the age
Will make it so.
.
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“A
S
of the Big One, and no international agreement to control the use of the bomb
Pern er
fs
&
A proposal which would leave the United States in permanent possession of a
stockpile of atomic bombs while denying to all other powers the right to have
them or permission to manufacture them would therefore be ruled out,
Govern-
ments other than that of the United States do not need to sign such anagreement
in order to bring about a situation of American monopoly.
They would have nothing
to gain by formally acquiescing in such an unequal arrangement.
They might feel
that they had a great deal to lose since they would never be sure that the suc-—
cessors to the present American leadership might not be tempted at some future
date in some as yet unforeseen conflict to resolve that conflict by use of bombs
which the United States would then alone possess,
Many governments would, there-
fore, feel more secure if the possible existence at a future date of a stockpile
not under American control were not forbidden.
Its existence would furnish from
their point of view a needed deterrent to any American government tempted to use
the bomb for its omn national purposes,
The requirement that an acceptable plan not disturb too drastically the
existing balance of interests leads to the conclusion that certain other states
are not prepared to negotiate with the United States voluntary agreements which
will significantly prolong the period of American monopoly.
American policy
must be planned for the not too distant day when at least some other countries
Will bargain on an equal footing with the United States,
There is another corollary to the principle that an international control
agreement not disturb the existing balance which can bo stated more positively.
The agreenent must offer effective guarantces that bad faith in carrying out
1.
For an exposition of this pattern, see William T. R. Fox, The Super-—Powers,
New York, Harcourt, Brace and Company, 194k.