"The story of the 1986 Reykjavik summit meeting is a tale of two visionary leaders and an 'impossible dream.' It was the most remarkable summit ever held between U.S. and Soviet leaders. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev seriously discussed the elimination of all ballistic missiles held by their two countries and aired the possibility of eliminating all nuclear weapons.
As Gorbachev said in these pages, 'the 1986 U.S.-Soviet summit in Reykjavik, seen by many as a failure, actually gave an impetus to reduction by reaffirming the vision of a world without nuclear weapons and by paving the way toward concrete agreements on intermediate-range nuclear forces and strategic nuclear weapons.'"
LOOKING BACK: The 1986 Reykjavik Summit - Ambassador James E. Goodby
Story of the Reykjavik Summit, Iceland - Nuclear Disarmament
The Reykjavik Summit was a summit meeting between U.S. president Ronald Reagan and Secretary-General of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev, held in the famous house of Höfði in Reykjavík, the capital city of Iceland, on 11 October-12, 1986. The talks collapsed at the last minute, but the progress that had been achieved eventually resulted in the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union.
In 1986 Reagan had proposed banning all ballistic missiles, but wanted to continue research on the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) that could potentially be shared with the Soviets. Yet Soviet suspicion of SDI continued, and U.S.-Soviet relations — already strained by the failure of the Geneva Summit the previous year[citation needed] — were further strained by the Daniloff-Zakharov espionage affair.
At Reykjavik, Reagan sought to include discussion of human rights, emigration of Soviet Jews and dissidents, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. However, Gorbachev sought to limit the talks solely to arms control. In the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the Soviets accepted in principle the "double-zero" proposal for eliminating INF weapons from Europe (INF denoting "Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces" as distinct from ICBMs, or intercontinental ballistic missiles). The Russians also proposed a complete ballistic missile ban by 1996. The U.S. countered with a proposal to eliminate 50 percent of ballistic missiles: once the controversial Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) had been tested and shared, the remainder could be eliminated.
The negotiations failed because of Gorbachev's insistence on linking the SDI program to any agreement on eliminating INF missiles in Europe and reducing NATO tactical nuclear weapons and Warsaw Pact conventional forces, and because of Reagan and the American delegation's refusal to negotiate over SDI research. The meeting adjourned with no agreement. Nevertheless, participants and observers have referred to the summit as an enormous breakthrough which eventually facilitated the INF Treaty (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty), signed in Washington on December 8, 1987.
"The Reykjavik summit meeting between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev on October 11-12, 1986 has remained in history as a near successful attempt of leaders of nuclear powers to agree on complete elimination of nuclear weapons. As such, Reykjavik has become a symbol of sorts - an example that nuclear disarmament is within reach as long as political leaders have courage to make such a decision and break through bureaucratic politics and the maze of arcane nuclear balance theories."
Reykjavik Summit: The Legacy and a Lesson for the Future - Dr. Nikolai Sokov
Ridley Scott looks set to film The Reykjavik Summit, the monumental moment in history when Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev that led to the end of the Cold War and the Nuclear Arms Treaty that saw the reduction and decommissioning in nuclear missiles on both sides.
This film may suddenly sound like all politics and history without any fun, but think about the hugely successful play Frost/Nixon that is going to hit screens, and is likely to be as tense and as powerful.
According to Ken Adelman, the producer and arms control expert to Reagan himself:
"This was great drama, great history and two great characters."
Comes the quote from the Washington Post through CHUD. The Post also has an interesting take on what the film could present as Adelman described the events:
"...recalls scenes of Reagan and Gorby going mano a mano, negotiating teams pulling all-nighters in the haunted Hofti House (the CIA and KGB sharing basement space), U.S. and Soviet officers clutching their nuclear footballs on the sidelines."
Now think about that coming to the screens and how it would be showing one of the decisive moments in recent history. I think this could make for a great film, especially if Ridley Scott is directing.
The film would be rather timely, just as relations between Russia and the west grow chilled and such events as the Russian nuclear bomber flights into UK airspace have resumed and the U.S. angers Russia with threats of a missile system on its doorstep - remember Cuba anyone?
This really could be a powerful film with a strong message. Yet there remains a big question though, who would play the two historic leaders?
Article re-printed under Creative Commons license
Source: http://www.filmstalker.co.uk/archives/2008/01/ridley_scott_to_film_reaga...
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