Deterrence or Disarmament: NATO Must Cope With the Debate

Today many believe that nuclear arms in Western Europe can be reduced, or will even become entirely unnecessary, given a build-down to approximate conventional parity, especially if combined with the elimination of the capacity for large scale offensives and surprise attack.

Karl Kaiser

1

For the foreseeable future there is no alternative to the Alliance’s strategy for the prevention of war, which is a strategy of deterrence based upon an appropriate mix of adequate and effective nuclear and conventional forces.

North Atlantic Council, May 1989

2

The underlying premises of the Atlantic Alliance and European security policy are being shaken by the cascading events of the last few years. The real challenge is to respond intelligently and appropriately to the pace of political, economic and military change without losing a sense of direction. The risks are drift, and gradual disintegration of the Alliance on the one hand, or simply mindless continuation of the old debate about US commitment to Europe on the other. In either case, the opportunities for fundamental improvement in East-West relations in Europe might be lost, and the ability to deal with potential instabilities that might lead to military crisis may be impaired.