Cyrus Vance was the Secretary of the Army from 1962-1964, the Deputy Secretary of Defense from 1964-1967, and the Secretary of State under Jimmy Carter from 1977-1980. In the interview he discusses SALT II and international relations during that time. He describes President Carter's commitment to a "deep cuts" approach to arms control. He also describes the Soviet's involvement in Africa, Cuba, and Afghanistan and the American normalization of relations with China. He argues against Dr. Kissinger's idea of linkage between arms control and foreign policy, which he thinks unnecessarily complicates negotiations and risks significant progress. He describes the failure of SALT II and the reasons behind it.
