When Is an Amendment Not an Amendment? Modification of Arms Control Agreements Without the Senate

The tempest over the proposed reinterpretation of the Anti- Ballistic Missile Treaty has only barely been stilled, and the full impact of the dissolution and reorganization of the Soviet Union is far from clear. But already we can detect early warnings about the next probable source of intense constitutional conflict between the American executive branch and the Congress in their ongoing struggle for primacy in the conduct of United States foreign relations. This imminent battle-again arising in the context of disarmament treaties, perhaps the most controversial and crucial aspect of America\u27s international public policy-has not yet been fully joined. But unless some creative, mutually acceptable solutions can quickly be developed, this battle, too, threatens to become bitter, protracted, and ultimately destructive for the coordinated and consistent conduct of United States national security efforts in an era of profound global instability