Center Poses Tough Questions On Summit

The Center for Security Policy today released a compendium of pointed questions designed to clarify the Bush Administration’s intentions for the upcoming U.S.-Soviet summit. This paper, entitled Summit Watch: Tough Questions for President Bush, is designed to illuminate issues likely to feature prominently in the Bush and Gorbachev agendas.

Such questions, if posed promptly by members of the press, the Congress and the public at large, may help expose serious pitfalls loomifng for American diplomacy — or at least expose the shortcomings inherent in the Administration’s approach for dealing with them.

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., the Center’s director, said, "The Center is concerned that recent Administration statements made about the waning prospects for ‘progress’ on various fronts at the Summit do not square with reality. In fact, it seems virtually certain that President Bush will be aggressively pursuing initiatives and offering further concessions designed to advance U.S.-Soviet agreements on conventional forces, strategic arms, trade, technology transfers and other forms of assistance to the Gorbachev regime."

Gaffney added, "Unless the dangers associated with such steps are adequately understood and debated publicly before the fact, there is every likelihood that U.S. national interests will be put seriously — and unnecessarily — at risk."

The Center’s questions address issues involving: arms control (START, conventional forces, chemical weapons and nuclear testing agreements); economic, financial and technology security (the trade agreement, energy cooperation, the Baltics, settlement of Soviet defaulted debts, the maritime agreement, and relaxation of export controls on militarily relevant high technology); German reunification; and regional issues (Afghanistan, South Africa and Cuba).

Copies of Summit Watch may be obtained by contacting the Center.