Interview with George Bunn, 1986

Item Information

Title:
Interview with George Bunn, 1986
Description:
George Bunn was General Counsel to the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency from 1961-1969, and played a key role as a negotiator of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). For the most part, the interview deals with the NPT process – the lead-up to negotiations, the talks themselves, the political dynamics among different parties, problems that confronted the treaty, and the implications of its approval. One of the United States' early concerns in this period, he notes, was China's possession of nuclear weapons. The NPT process gained momentum when the comprehensive test ban treaty bid failed, initially a great personal disappointment for Mr. Bunn. Among the obstacles the treaty faced along the way were the Multilateral Force, which the Soviets objected to because it would give Germany access to nuclear arms, and the question of safeguards, which several non-nuclear states protested against. In the latter instance, European members of EURATOM opposed the involvement of both Soviet inspectors and the IAEA. In the end, solutions were reached and the NPT, in Mr. Bunn's view, became one of the most successful arms control treaties since World War II. Among other related topics discussed are the impact of the Chinese and Indian tests, India's sharp criticisms of the NPT, and Mr. Bunn's personal interactions with Soviet negotiators.
Interviewee:
Bunn, George, 1925-
Date:
October 30, 1986
Format:
Film/Video
Location:
WGBH
Collection (local):
WGBH Open Vault
Series:
War and Peace in the Nuclear Age
Subjects:
Nuclear nonproliferation
Nuclear weapons--Testing
Multilateral force (Nuclear strategy)
Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (1963)
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
Nuclear weapons
International relations
International Atomic Energy Agency
United Nations
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Czechoslovakia
Korean War, 1950-1953
Hiroshima-shi (Japan)--History--Bombardment, 1945
United States. Dept. of State
United States. Dept. of Defense
U.S. Atomic Energy Commission
Great Britain
Polaris (Missile)
World War II
Atoms for Peace (U.S.)
Nuclear arms control
Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (1968)
Soviet Union
Nuclear energy
Timerbaev, R. M. (Roland Makhmutovich)
Khrushchev, Nikita Sergeevich, 1894-1971
Gaulle, Charles de, 1890-1970
Gromyko, Andrei Andreevich, 1909-1989
Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973
Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969
Rusk, Dean, 1909-1994
Thompson, Llewellyn, 1904-1972
Wilson, Harold, 1916-1995
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963
Places:
California
China
Japan
Australia
India
Belgium
Pakistan
Germany
South Africa
France
Israel
Canada
Extent:
00:56:31:28
Link to Item:
http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_0F767B2E981F4131A728F6FA05A9CB29
Terms of Use:
Rights status not evaluated.
Contact host institution for more information.
Publisher:
WGBH Educational Foundation
Identifier:
V_0F767B2E981F4131A728F6FA05A9CB29