Enhancing European Security: Living in a Less Nuclear World

Although the authors believe that the level of both conventional and nuclear forces in Europe should and will be reduced, they do not consider that the military instrument will have lost all of its value in European political affairs. They still see a need to be prepared for tension and conflict between the two alliances in Europe, and between the United States and the Soviet Union. They make specific, selective recommendations for targets of force reductions, with particular emphasis on the support systems necessary for sustained occupation of seized territory. They also stress the need for asymmetrical reductions, in the sense that the two superpowers should withdraw and demobilize more forces than their European allies to ensure that the reductions will be irreversible.