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The Politics of Vulnerability: 1980-83

By R. James Woolsey
Spring 1984
Article Summary and Author Biography

As the Soviet Union has steadily improved its strategic nuclear and other military forces in recent years, it has become increasingly clear to Americans that the United States is vulnerable in a sense that was never true before the advent of nuclear weapons.

R. James Woolsey is a partner in the Washington, D.C., law firm of Shea and Gardner, and counsel to the Georgetown Center for Strategic and International Studies. In 1977-79 he was Under Secretary of the Navy; in 1970-73, General Counsel of the Senate Armed Services Committee; and in 1969-70, an adviser on the SALT I delegation. During 1983 he was a member of the President's Commission on Strategic Forces (Scowcroft Commission) and in 1981 he served on the first Townes Committee-both described herein. In October 1983 he was appointed Delegate-at-Large on the U.S. START delegation at Geneva.

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