Russia's hold on us is the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty, which essentially prohibits building defensive weapons.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Beware a Clinton Arms Deal

Starting tomorrow, the United States will no longer be a party to or subject to the constraints of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center For Security Policy

Chief among these are the agreements on Multilateralization and Demarcation of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty, and the Kyoto Protocol to the UN Convention on Climate Change.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: United States Senate

Recall our experience with the U.S.-Soviet Anti-Ballistic Missile (abm) Treaty.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Toxic treaty: how not to ban chemical weapons

Critics believe the missile shield would spell an end to the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty, and some European leaders agree with Russian warnings that it could start a new arms race.

CNN: UK signals support for missile plan

But many world leaders have criticised Washington's ambition -- including President Vladimir Putin who has warned it would mean ripping up the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM) and risked a new arms race.

CNN: Chirac and Putin

Even as one lot of American diplomats shot down the extension of the BWC, others were busy reiterating their country's determination to scrap the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty, a cornerstone of international arms-control for the past 30 years.

ECONOMIST: A running feud

To assure the Russians that this initiative would only modify, not imperil, the U.S.-Soviet Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty signed in 1972, however, the Administration intends to reaffirm in a new agreement the earlier accord's bans on sea-, air-, mobile ground- and space-based missile defenses of the territory of the United States.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center For Security Policy

In the end, a renegotiation of the ABM Treaty along such lines may do little more than legitimize the massive anti-ballistic missile capabilities inherent in the large numbers of Soviet radars and interceptors ostensibly fielded for early warning and anti-aircraft purposes.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Hapless SDI damsel in distress: Awaiting a hero