Foreign Relations: Ho-Hum

One of the world’s longest shows was on the road again: in a conference room of Geneva’s Palais des Nations, U.S., British and Russian negotiators last week met in the 341st session of the East-West nuclear test-ban talks, which have been going off and on since 1958.

It was all very familiar. U.S. Negotiator Arthur Dean stood by the treaty draft of last April. Like all other U.S. proposals, it insisted on an inspection system, and Soviet Delegate Semyon (“Scratchy”) Tsarapkin would have none of it. “We are not much willing to discuss the Western proposals.” said Scratchy. “It is now necessary to have quite another approach.” Tsarapkin’s “approach” was a brief, four-paragraph draft treaty that offered an immediate ban on all nuclear tests—but made no provision for inspection or international control teams. Ar thur Dean dismissed the proposals as “completely, totally, absolutely unsatisfactory and unacceptable.” At midweek, Dean left his deputy, Charles C. Stelle, in charge of the futile talks, flew home to report to President Kennedy.