"The United States, as the world's only remaining superpower, must continue making arms control a central element of its foreign policy and national security strategy," says John Holum, director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.

In an overview of U.S. arms control policy in the focus section of this issue, Holum reviews the string of arms control successes the United States has achieved in recent years:

-- the U.S. Senate ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention this spring, global implementation is underway, and initial on-site inspections have begun.

-- Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin agreed in March to negotiate a third Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty as soon as the Russian Duma ratifies the second one. This will lead to the destruction of the first strategic nuclear warheads; in the past, only launchers and delivery vehicles were limited or reduced.

-- President Clinton was the first of 150 leaders to sign the global nuclear test ban; and Brazil announced this summer that it would join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which was indefinitely extended in 1995 after a hard fought U.S. effort.

This electronic journal tracks the progress of these efforts and forecasts future negotiations. Also in the focus section, Deputy National Security Adviser James Steinberg discusses critical U.S. non-proliferation efforts; Under Secretary of Defense Walter Slocombe describes how the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Flank Agreement, an update of the CFE treaty, enhances U.S. and European security; and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Susan Koch describes the U.S. program to help dismantle nuclear weapons in Russia, Belarus, Kazakstan and Ukraine.

Senator Patrick Leahy, in the commentary section, analyzes U.S. efforts to ban anti-personnel landmines. A chronology, reflecting more than 70 years of arms control history, and fact sheets on a number of U.S. arms control initiatives are featured in Backgrounding Key Issues.