The LRTNF decision: evolution of US theatre nuclear policy, 1975–9

Abstract

The deployment by NATO in Europe of the so-called intermediate-range nuclear force (INF) missiles in December 1983 marked the culmination of a process largely completed four years earlier. From 1975 to 1979, the United States, together with its NATO allies, fundamentally changed alliance policy concerning theatre nuclear forces (TNF). Although America's European allies played a strong role in initiating this process, the change was ultimately one for the United States to make as the chief nuclear power of the alliance. In 1975, when the Soviet SS-20 missile first appeared, the United States did not possess nuclear missile forces capable of striking Soviet territory from the continent of Europe, nor had it since the early 1960s. On 12 December 1979, the United States and its allies decided to deploy such missile capability on the continent of Europe. This article summarizes the process by which this change occurred, which may be instructive for future decision-making and the conduct of nuclear diplomacy, especially within the Atlantic alliance. It emphasizes the US decision-making process and the conduct of US diplomacy, so the lessons are most directly relevant to the United States; however, these matters are of obvious wider interest.