Arms Control and All That

Abstract

The question of which approach to conventional disarmament should be adopted in the search for greater stability in Europe at lower levels of armaments has become the central issue in relations between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. Attitudes in the individual chancelleries of both superpowers and their allies towards the subject have changed, overnight it seems, from one of genteel indifference to one of crusading zeal. Countries vie with one another to show the seriousness with which they view the problem and everyone from politicians to media pundits feels compelled to pontificate on the state of the balance of forces in Europe, and in particular along the central front, as well as the best method for reducing those forces.¹