---
title: "Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty — Definition & Meaning"
description: "The Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty limited US and Soviet missile defenses to maintain mutual deterrence, crucial for arms control discussions."
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/anti-ballistic-missile-treaty"
---

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Model Diplomat Research Team · Last reviewed June 22, 2026

TL;DR

- The ABM Treaty was a 1972 US–Soviet arms-control accord limiting each side's deployment of defensive systems against strategic ballistic missiles to preserve mutual deterrence.
- Who signed the ABM Treaty and when?
- How did the ABM Treaty support nuclear deterrence?
- What did the 1974 Protocol change?
- Why and when did the United States withdraw from the Treaty?

[Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services/glossary)Updated June 22, 2026

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## Timeline

1. 26 May 1972

   The Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty was signed on in Moscow by US President Richard Nixon and Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev, as a cornerstone…

2. 3 October 1972

   It entered into force on after exchange of instruments of ratification.

3. 3 July 1974

   A 1974 Protocol, signed , reduced this to a single permitted site per party.

4. 13 December 2001

   The Treaty's defining moment came on , when President George W.

5. 13 June 2002

   Bush gave formal notice of US withdrawal, citing the need to develop missile defences against "rogue states" and terrorism after the September 11 attacks; th…

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Example

In December 2001, US President George W. Bush announced unilateral withdrawal from the ABM Treaty to pursue national missile defence, with the withdrawal taking legal effect in June 2002.

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