[en] As a result of this creeping attrition of its principles, the United States finds itself today more and more tempted to lower its standards and to pursue the same sordid practices as the Soviets. Indeed, the process of moral deterioration the United States is suffering seems to prove the old French adage that one tends to acquire the visage of one's adversary. The Bulletin is observing its fortieth anniversary at a critical point in the evolution of U.S. policy toward other governments and the rest of humanity. U.S. representatives are just beginning a negotiation which the president has probably already doomed to failure by abruptly announcing his Star Wars project and insisting on its irrevocable nature. Barring a congressional refusal to fund it, this extravagant and reckless scheme may well mean the end of any serious efforts to gain control of the nuclear arms spiral, for, once the rhythm of negotiation is again broken, it may prove impossible to restore - particularly as the buildup of new types of nuclear weapons defeats the possibilities of verification