Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Reykjavik Summit

On the evening of October 19, 2026, Christopher Yeaw, Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control and Nonproliferation, will deliver a signature address at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library reflecting on the enduring lessons of the historic Reykjavik Summit between President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. 

Forty years after Reagan and Gorbachev met in Iceland, the Reykjavik Summit remains one of the most consequential encounters of the Cold War. Although the two leaders departed without a formal agreement, their extraordinary discussions transformed the possibilities for nuclear arms control and helped pave the way for the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, the first international agreement to eliminate an entire class of nuclear weapons. 

Assistant Secretary Yeaw will consider Reykjavik’s lasting significance for American statecraft, nuclear deterrence, and arms control, as well as the lessons President Reagan’s leadership offers for confronting the security challenges of the twenty-first century. At a moment of renewed great-power competition and growing nuclear danger, the legacy of Reykjavik provides a timely opportunity to reflect on how principled leadership, strategic strength, and sustained diplomacy can reduce the risks of conflict and advance the cause of peace.