Nuclear disarmament: Consequences for the alliance—Perspectives for Germany and Europe

Abstract

Abstract This paper analyzes the implications of the intermediate‐range nuclear forces (INF) agreement for European security from the point of view of the CDU/CSU in Europe. The Atlantic Alliance has shared common values and an interest in preventing the Soviet Union from subsuming Western Europe under its sphere of influence. Germany's security aim, within the Alliance, is to prevent the regionalization of war—whether nuclear or nonnuclear—in its territory through the risk‐sharing and deterrence‐sharing of the Alliance. Thus, in the light of the INF agreement, grave difficulties arise for Germany's security aims, owing to the significance devolving upon short‐range systems, and conventional and chemical weapons. Various responses are discussed, including NATO's development of a comprehensive concept (Gesamtkonzept,) for disarmament, the Western European Union for military and other aid and assistance, and a European economic and monetary union which, with the European security union, would form the polit...