A New Approach to Conventional Arms Control in Europe: Addressing the Security Challenges of the 21st Century
Abstract
Conventional arms control (CAC) has played a historic role in ensuring the security of Europe and the broader Euro-Atlantic region. It was a crucial element of the multilevel negotiations that ended the Cold War peacefully. Signed in 1990, the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) made a significant contribution to stability on the continent at a time of dramatic change. By establishing ceilings on categories of arms that were believed to facilitate a large-scale surprise attack and creating procedures for inspection and notification, CFE fostered stabilitynot only in the final years of the Cold War, but also during the early postCold War period, when hundreds of thousands of troops and their materiel were moving across the continent. CFE was augmented by the other two components of the broader European CAC regime: the Vienna Document (VDoc), a set of regional confidence and security-building measures (CSBMs), and the Open Skies Treaty (OST), which allows for aerial reconnaissance flights.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2020
- Accession Number
- AD1097421
Entities
People
- Alice Lynch
- Dara Massicot
- Giacomo P. Paoli
- John J. Drennan
- Samuel Charap
Organizations
- RAND Corporation