Conventional Force Reductions in German Soil: A Concrete Proposal
Abstract
With the disappearance of Soviet and American medium-range missiles from Europe, conventional disarmament will move to the fore of Continental security. Ratification of the INF agreement undoubtedly gives new impetus to the East-West negotiations to reduce Warsaw Pact and NATO forces in the vast area from the Atlantic to the Urals. Improved prospects for movement on both sides in this area would appear to be the result of several factors: the changed domestic political environment in the United States; the American perception of greater flexibility in Moscow based on the relative ease with which the INF treaty was negotiated; and a renewed Soviet interest in assuaging West European fears of the Pact in order to gain access to the economic, technological, and managerial resources of Western Europe and, especially, of West Germany. The American imperative to reduce defense spending is, of course, not new. What is new, however, is the emerging political consensus for real cuts in defense over the next two to three years. Conscious of America's potentially grave budget situation, policy makers of both parties will be more likely than ever to press for a diminished American share in what is viewed chiefly as Europe's defense. In public pronouncements General Secretary Gorbachev has strongly endorsed the concept of conventional arms control in central Europe, but none of his or the Soviet General Staff's rhetoric suggests that an era of resource stringency will cause the type of organizational contraction that reduced the size of Soviet conventional forces in the 1950s. However, closer economic ties with Western Europe--particularly West Germany, which is the Soviet Union's largest trading partner-are vital to the success of Gorbachev's plan to restructure and reinvigorate the Soviet economy.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1988
- Accession Number
- ADA528151
Entities
People
- Douglas A. Macgregor
Organizations
- United States Army War College