During the START negotiations, the Soviet position underwent
very substantial--and sometimes radical--changes. These
changes in approach can be explained by a number of factors,
but first among these is the fact that they took place as the result
of a new, broader vision of arms control and disarmament
problems on the part of the Soviet leadership. Such a dramatic
revision of national policy could not pass through all the
institutions of the decision-making mechanism smoothly.
Rather, the changes produced serious controversies, intense
concerns, and even direct and strong protests by some of the
participants in this process. Nor did the process proceed without
mistakes, errors, and disappointments, many of which were later
mentioned in criticisms of Gorbachev, Shevardnadze, and other
leaders of the former Soviet Union, both in general as well as
specifically in the sphere of arms control agreements concluded
with the United States. However, before that situation came
about, much was to pass.

The change of the Soviet position on monitoring and
inspection (kontrol') and verification issues became one of the
most important conceptual shifts in the talks. It was in this
sphere that some of the most serious breakthroughs were
achieved on several fronts, including not only changes to the

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