Paul Warnke delivers keynote speech

Paul Warnke, the former chief negotiator at the second Strategic Arms Limitation Talks delivered the keynote address to open the 1984 Public Affairs Symposium on Sunday, February 12th, 1984. In his address, Warnke discussed the past, present, and future of strategic arms negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union. In describing the then present state of negotiations, Warnke described the current period as an "impasse" in negotiations that had not occurred since 1964. Warnke attributed this pause to both sides of the table, saying the Soviet Union had driven a wedge between the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance, and the United States' Reagan administration alienated the Soviet Union by believing that the Soviet Union could "be frightened into behaving."

However, Warnke expressed optimism that constructive talks would soon begin between the United States and the Soviet Union, and stressed that any negotiations would require the top leadership of each nation to meet in order to "get the roadblocks out of the way."