A Blueprint for Military Change in Central Europe, 1990 - 1996
Abstract
For more than four decades, a myriad of political and military experts in both the United States and Western Europe have debated the inability of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to defend itself from a surprise attack by the Warsaw Pact. This internal NATO debate has been dominated by heated arguments over the short-war versus long-war scenario, the validity of rapid reinforcement, the clash over standardization and interoperability issues, and the dilemma about emerging technologies. In the early and mid-1980's, nuclear force modernizations became the lightening rods to dominate NATO meetings and politicians' agendas throughout the Atlantic alliance. As late as 1989, the vast differences of opinion over transatlantic burden sharing were dividing alliance members and had politicians on both sides of the Atlantic crying "foul." Nonetheless, these NATO debates and the perpetual bickering over what equals an adequate defense would usually end in public solidarity because of the ever-present Soviet military threat to the survivability of a free and democratic Western Europe. The past six months have literally transformed the European security debate. The political revolution that has swept through Eastern Europe and that is now affecting the Soviet Union itself has radically changed the relatively predictable NATO security agenda. Gone forever is the former demand of more financial allocations for military programs. Both the Soviet Union and the United States -- the two world superpowers -- cannot control the direction of crucial events that now seem to burst onto the scene with surprising regularity. Both superpowers are wary about the future. German unification, or some form of confederation, will most likely occur before the end of the year, greatly altering the existing landscape of Central Europe. The Conventional Forces Europe (CFE) Treaty, whose time has already passed, will probably be signed in late 1990 or early 1991.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1990
- Accession Number
- ADA437328
Entities
People
- Michael J. Pasquarett
Organizations
- National War College