arms control. 231 What followed was the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (NTBT). Signed and ratified by both leaders and the UN in 1963 the NTBT banned the testing of nuclear detonations in the atmosphere, in outer space and under the sea. The NTBT was limited in its effects but “moreover, the first disarmament agreement in post war history had been signed, breaking the psychological deadlock in disarmament talks, improving considerably the overall atmosphere of U.S.- Soviet Relations.” 232 In addition, Spencer Weart suggests that by removing the atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons meant that “out of sight was out of mind” resulting i n a worldwide collapse of interest in nuclear warfare in all media during the 1960s. 233 The NTBT demonstrated to both politicians and the public that diplomatic progress could be made regarding reducing the nuclear threat and that although rivals in ideology the two superpowers could find room for cooperation. Kendrick Oliver supports this theory, writing that while a nuclear test ban “will not by itself make a decisive contribution to the peace and security of the world, its value might lead to progression in other negotiations.” 234 Rapoport agrees noting that the treaty also set the precedent for further treaties to be signed throughout the 1960s. 235 These include cooperation on the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (1968) and the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty, (proposed in 1967). It is easy to imagine that had early measures not been taken after the Cuban Missile Crisis the initiative might not have been seized for decades to come. Most importantly however, after Kennedy’s assassination the Test Ban Treaty allowe d “President Johnson and his 231 Peter G. Boyle, American- Soviet Relations: From the Russian Revolution to the Fall of Communism, (Routledge: London) 1993, pp.148. 232 Ibid. pp. 148. 233 Spencer R. Weart, Rise of Nuclear Fear, (Harvard University Press: London) 2012, pp.151-152. 234 Kendrick Oliver, Kennedy, Macmillan and the Nuclear Test Ban Debate (1961-1963), (St Martins Press: New York) 1998, pp.175. 235 Anatol Rapoport, The Big Two: Soviet-American Perceptions of Foreign Policy, (Pegasus: University of Michigan) 1971, pp.191.
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