The Impact of Current Political and Arms Control Developments on Security in Europe

Abstract

For the first half of the decade, a growing sense of optimism pervaded analyses of European security. The sentiment was founded on the conviction, derived from the lessons of almost three decades of cold war, that security must rest upon the perfection of controls over the exercise of power. This conviction was reinforced by the success of US and Soviet efforts to establish limits on ballistic missile defences and offensive missiles in 1972. It was further strengthened by the convening in 1975 of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) in Helsinki. In the minds of many Europeans, in the East as well in the West, the CSCE constituted a political framework for peaceful development and détente in Europe.

Background paper prepared by Jorma Miettinen assisted by Kalevi Ruhala and Pauli O. Järvenpää for the symposium held at Helsinki, Finland, 19–21 April 1979.