INF ABBREVIATION (POLITICS)

Short for intermediate-range nuclear forces; used especially in INF treaty, an agreement on the limitation of intermediate-range nuclear weapons, concluded between the US and the Soviet Union in 1987. Etymology: The initial letters of Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces. History and Usage: INF became the preferred US term for theatre nuclear weapons (previously known as TNF) in the early eighties, and the abbreviation soon began to crop up frequently in reports of disarmament talks. It was the INF treaty of 1987 which resulted in the removal of US cruise missiles from British bases such as Greenham Common, and which seemed to many people to mark the beginning of a new era in East-West relations in the late eighties. The abbreviation is sometimes preceded by a further qualification of the weapons' range: LRINF, longer-range INF; SRINF, shorter-range INF. A Soviet team touched down at Greenham Common yesterday to make a cruise missile inspection under the terms of the INF treaty. Guardian 17 Aug. 1989, p. 4 If the success of the INF negotiations can be carried into other areas of the nuclear armoury, then the INF Treaty will be seen as an important milestone. Steve Elsworth A Dictionary of the Environment (1990), p. 326