Eisenhower's Open Skies to Reach 500th Flight - Page 2

Eisenhower hoped open skies would pave the way for more agreements to reduce the dangers of the new age of nuclear weapons. This domino effect was an important aspect of Ike’s decision to pursue cooperation with the Soviets via the atoms for peace proposal, open skies, and later, the negotiations to ban nuclear weapons testing.
The Soviets did not go for Ike’s plan. Being a closed society with fears of their own, namely espionage, and an attack by the more powerful United States, the Soviets did not want inspection. The open skies plan would be grounded, but not forever.

In 1989 President George Bush revisited Ike’s plan in the hope it would help build a new relationship with Russia at the end of the Cold War. Canada and European nations were to be included. Bush noted that open skies could complement the more modern satellite surveillance that had been developed since the Eisenhower proposal, though having countries agree to aerial inspection flights promoted cooperation and trust that could not be obtained by satellite surveillance alone.

The following year, an Open Skies Conference was held in Ottawa, Canada to jumpstart negotiations on a potential treaty. Secretary of State James Baker spoke at the conference, stating open skies would "provide a tangible and powerful symbol of the emerging East-West cooperation that our publics could readily see and understand." Baker urged acceptance of Open Skies to create "a stable and predictable security environment that allows each nation to pursue its own destiny in peace, without fear of aggression or intimidation." The new open skies proposal did not differ from the old one in the sense that its aim was to make war less likely.

In 1992, the Open Skies Treaty was signed with the U.S., Russia, Canada and over twenty European nations joining. Hungary and Romania, which also signed the treaty, actually had their own bilateral agreement already in place.

Later this summer, the 500th flight under the treaty is expected to take place. The treaty can serve as an example for other nations. Open Skies could play a role in building peace between India and Pakistan, or between the Koreas or someday, in the Middle East. The experiences of the current Open Skies Treaty may help move such agreements along. To build upon current efforts to disarm North Korea’s nuclear program, a demonstration flight could be conducted for the North and the South. This would be another step toward peace and reunification on the peninsula. The United States could also explore an aerial inspection agreement with China.

It has been a long road from the time of Eisenhower’s proposal at Geneva to this summer’s 500th flight of the Open Skies Treaty. However, the story of open skies may just be beginning.

Article Author: William Lambers

William Lambers is the author of "The Roadmap to End Global Hunger," which focuses on the legislation in Congress that would put global hunger at the top of Obama administration's agenda. He is also the author of "Ending World Hunger: School Lunches …

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