In 1985, after a long and eventful history of competition and controversy in the field of nuclear testing the USA and the USSR signed an agreement to hold joint experiments in underground nuclear test verifications which proved to be not only a successful research project but a milestone in Soviet-American political relations in view of the Cold War. It also had a considerable impact on the life of academic community of both countries.

At the time in modern history when the prospect of the Cold War became catastrophic neither of the two biggest opponents could offer a solution acceptable to the other party. The nuclear test ban negotiations came to a deadlock. Both the United States and the Soviet Union were taking unilateral measures to solve the issue in the atmosphere of mutual mistrust and suspicion. Strange as it might seem, the ice broke after a series of joint experiments on verification of underground nuclear explosions, which, from the scientific point of view, could hardly be considered a brain-taxing problem. The geophysical issues behind the experiments were already being discussed in the academic community. Nevertheless, it seems that it was American and Russian geophysicists, academic officials and public activists from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Soviet Academy of Sciences who initiated and executed this project whereas politicians had striven and failed. Is it merely a coincidence or an indication of a modern tendency of science's growing influence on politics?

With this question as the focal point, this research aims to create an objective account of this unique experience for American and Soviet researchers. It is an opportunity to compare and contrast seismology, technology and people on both sides of the Iron Curtain. It is also a chance to both go back in time and catch a glimpse of the future of joint research projects in strategic fields of science. Academic authority and initiative in political and social matters, the importance of trust and multifaceted collaboration in the scientific community might be the lessons to be learnt from this event in the history of science of the XX century.

This presentation is based on work co-authored by Sergey Negrebetsky and Viacheslav Pilipenko.