ABM Treaty

Cultural  

1. The popular name for part of the 1972 Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) between the United States and the former Soviet Union; it restricts the number and locations of antiballistic missiles (ABM) that each nation can deploy. President George W. Bush has announced his intention to abandon the treaty so that the United States can deploy an ABM system, parts of which would be space-based. (See Star Wars.)

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Example Sentences

During the 1980s, he helped lead opposition to the proposed “star wars” missile defense program of President Ronald Reagan, noting that it would be a violation of the 1972 ABM Treaty.

From Washington Post • Jan. 5, 2017

Richard Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev signed the ABM Treaty in 1972, banning certain kinds of anti-missile missiles, precisely to ward off this fate.

From Slate • Dec. 23, 2016

The key to Europe's opposition is the lack of an ABM Treaty successor.

From Time Magazine Archive