NUCLEAR AMBIGUITY 61 dons except for the USA, the following propositions have been carried by big majorities in the U.N. General Assembly: 1. That the nuclear powers give declarations of'non first use' of nuclear weapons. (This would immediately permit the disarmament of tactical nuclear weapons and substantially raise the nuclear threshold). 2. A comprehensive test ban. (This would arrest developments of new kinds of warheads and the X-ray lasers for the Star Wars programme.) 3. The establishment of nuclear-weapons-free-zones in various parts of the world, especially in Europe. 4. A freeze on quantitative and qualitative developments in nuclear armaments. 5. An immediate stop to the Star Wars initiative. With the Soviet Union having expressed its support for these propositions, the prime task (becomes) is to compel the American government to accept these positions. As has been aruged earlier, this would probably require the defeat of the Reagan government in the next U.S. elections and the election of a government favourable to arms control and disarmament. Thus the task of disarmament becomes apolitical task of forging a broad alliance of various diverse and sometimes even contradictory forces favouring disarmament within the NATO countries. Before we proceed further with the argument, it is worth reiterating some of the earlier arguments in point form : 1. Nuclear disarmament will require governmental and political changes in some of the NATO countries. 2. Today there has been a substantial growth of'pro-disarmament' forces in These countries, as well as all over the world. However, Right-wing governments in power in important NATO countries are proceeding ahead with nuclear re-armament. If we examine the results of various polls taken in Europe and the USA, we find that while there is majority support for many disarmament proposals, this has not resulted in the election of governments favouring disarmament, except in a few cases. This paradoxical situation requires detailed analysis. However, the facts indicate that the victory of Rightwing, anti-disarmament coalitions 'and parties in elections has been the result of disorganisation and lack of unity in the ranks of the pro-disarmament and anti-nuclear forces. The possibility, therefore, exists of building as a conscious and long-term strategy, a broad coalition of pro-disarmament forces in various parts of the world, especially in the NATO countries. Such coalitions, if they can resist divison at the time of parliamentary or presidential elections on other issues, can defeat the Rightwing, militarist trend now iri power in the USA and many NATO countries. We may term the use of disarmament and peace forces for bringing about political changes as *Excercising the Disarmament Option'. If we contemplate and thoroughly digest the implications of the preceding analysis, it