The impact on arms control is but one kind of fallout. Perhaps even more serious is what the Senate decision says about the ability of the US to influence events in an increasingly fractured, multidimensional world. The germ of the test- ban treaty began in the Eisenhower administration and has been negotiated by US and foreign diplomats in good faith over many years. In each administration, whether Democrat or Republican, the process included consultations with relevant congressional committees. Supporters have insisted that by establishing extensive global monitoring, the treaty will greatly improve the capability to detect violators.
Computers can provide the means to maintain the deterrent.
A ratified treaty offers an internationally recognized basis for mobilizing official pressure and public opinion against violators. If the treaty is flawed, the response should not be rejection, but an examination of the problems and efforts, through further negotiation, to resolve them. Some in Congress are now proposing just this. But, at the base of opposition to the treaty is the idea that the US has the power unilaterally to deter any threat - that neither this treaty nor any other is necessary. Pressure for a missile defense system is already creating serious problems in US relations not only with the Russians, but with allies.