Conventional Armed Forces In Europe Research Articles

A European Military Balance Organization and Dynamic Conventional Arms Control

The Russo-Ukraine War has capped the decay of conventional arms control (CAC) agreements and security institutions designed and evolved in large part to prevent this type of conflict. At its root is the rivalry between Russia and NATO, and Russian concerns over the military balance. The Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty was the cornerstone agreement to stabilize the military balance, but the treaty and other security institutions such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) failed to adapt to NATO expansion. This article explores the role of various organizations in Europe in CAC and proposes a unique approach to future CAC agreements, dynamic CAC, implemented by a dedicated organization called the European Military Balance Organization (EMBO) which would continuously assess the military balance between NATO and Russia.

Poland’s road to NATO – objective and subjective obstacles

The paper describes the Polish road to NATO which, contrary to the West’s expectations and promises, was long and bumpy. The author presents and analyses various obstacles that hindered Polish accession to NATO. The author divides such challenges into objective and subjective barriers, but using other criteria, the author points to specific geopolitical, international, political, social, and military conditions. Furthermore, the author presents the stances of different countries on the enlargement of the North Atlantic Alliance after the Cold War, particularly the attitudes of the USA, Germany, France, the USSR, and Russia as these states were either more or less supportive of Polish efforts to join NATO or not supportive at all. In 1989-1999 the Alliance’s position was slowly evolving from being initially unwilling to support Poland’s accession to NATO to being sympathetic towards it. In the paper, the author poses a few research questions on the above-mentioned obstacles on the Polish road to NATO and a few theses and hypotheses. The author states that primarily the USSR, later the Russian Federation, was against Poland’s accession to NATO. Initially, the West also opposed it. After 1989, its priority was to reunite Germany and stabilize military relations with Moscow through the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) and the elimination of Soviet military bases in post-communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

Investigation of Armed Forces from the Atlantic Ocean to the Ural Mountains

The Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty covers 30 countries across the Atlantic Ocean to the Ural Mountains (ATTU). This paper analyzes the armed forces in CFE and makes a comparison and relative ranking of CFE countries’ armaments using factor analysis. The results suggest that there are three different factors that explain the whole data set, and the military based comparison of countries is obtained by these factors. A general military power factor is also calculated for a general comparison.

Обеспечение конвенциональной безопасности в Европе: прошлое, настоящее, будущее

The article discusses the issues of control over the size and the use for military purposes of five categories of conventional offensive weapons: battle tanks, armored combat vehicles, 100 mm+ artillery, combat aircrafts and attack helicopters. These are subjects to the restrictions in Atlantic-Ural area in accordance with the Treaty on conventional armed forces in Europe (CFE) which is the key, though not the only one to date, international regulatory and legal instrument in this field.

Potenciální rizika evropského procesu kontroly zbrojení v kontextu rusko-gruzínského konfliktu

The paper addresses the risks and consequences of the suspension of the Russian Federation's commitments stemming from the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) on the process of arms control and the European security environment. It deals with the security dilemma and securitisation in general as well as with the assertive posture of Russia in the post-Soviet region, reminded through the Russian - Georgian conflict in August 2008. The role of the CFE Treaty as the cornerstone of the European security is elaborated as well as its importance for NATO. The paper deals with the negative consequences of the Russian suspension on the future of the CFE regime and European security environment. There are options suggested for eliminating the malicious consequences through promoting co-operation and confidence building between NATO and Russia, currently at freezing point, the worst state since the end of the Cold War. Should the benign measures fail to deliver, with the geopolitics back, adequate military capabilities to counter advanced adversary might be considered.

Table 27 Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty

Table 27 Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty

Договор по обычным вооруженным силам в Европе (ОВСЕ) и российская национальная безопасность

Договор по обычным вооруженным силам в Европе (ОВСЕ) и российская национальная безопасность

Key Influences on NATO States' National Security Negotiating Behavior

The late 1980s was probably the golden age of East-West security/arms control negotiations. Treaty-producing talks, such as the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) negotiation between NATO and the Warsaw Pact, went right to the heart of issues of national survival and stature. Partly due to this importance, the negotiating behavior of individual West European states during this time was highly consistent and utilitarian. Powerful influences stemming from geography, historical commitments, economic competition, domestic instability, and political vision cross-walked directly to predictable state negotiating stances. Despite the murkiness of the nature of the New World Order, these and other emerging influences or factors seem to still lend coherence to a modified self-help framework for understanding national security interests and their negotiated pursuit.

On disarmament: the role of conventional arms control in national security strategy

Abstract : Disarmament, Conventional Arms Control, Negotiations on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), Confidence- and Security-Building Measures (CSBM), Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), Armored Combat Vehicles, tanks, artillery, combat aviation, personnel ceilings, sub-zones, NATO, Warsaw pact, Neutral and nonaligned. In this textbook the authors address significant conventional arms control history; development of U.S. and NATO objectives for the talks; pertinent issues which had to be resolved; the role of partial disarmament in National Security Strategy; and conclude with a full discussion of CFE and CSBM proposals, data, and the military implications of a successful agreement. The authors provide answers to the important questions: How close are we to an agreement? Can conventional arms reductions be verified? What does the post arms reduction world look like? What is the future of the alliances in Europe? Will we have to change national security strategy? Is arms control still relevant, considering the changes in Eastern Europe? How can we agree on answers before events change them? This book is somewhat unique since it incorporates the work of practitioners, academics, and actual members of our U.S. conventional arms control negotiating teams. (EG)

The role of arms control in the New Europe

The most remarkable aspect of the Paris summit meeting of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) held in November 1990 was how unremarkable the signing of the most ambitious arms control treaty in history appeared to be. Newspaper commentary at the time declared that the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) had largely been overtaken by events. The cold war had clearly ended. In a 'Joint Declaration' the 22 parties to the CFE Treaty affirmed 'the end of the era of division and confrontation which has lasted for more than four decades The signatories solemnly declare that, in the new era of European relations which is beginning, they are no longer adversaries.' In Paris, a general sense accordingly prevailed that, in view of the new quality of political relations among the states of Europe and North America, arms control had lost its political and military significance. By February 1991, however, this optimistic view had given way to a new sense of soberness. Inconsistencies in the data supplied by the Soviet Union at the time of the CFE Treaty's signing, combined with earlier withdrawals of large quantities of ground equipment east of the Ural Mountains, were seen as a deliberate Soviet attempt to evade its obligations under the treaty. The violent crackdown in the Baltics appeared to signal President Gorbachev's firm embrace of Soviet hardliners as well as a return to the strong-arm tactics of yesteryear. Finally, the Kremlin's last-ditch diplomatic efforts to avert a ground offensive in the war against Iraq were largely interpreted as a mischievous effort to undermine the coalition's strategy by compromising on the fundamentals of the UN resolutions that guided the allied effort. The combination of these events resulted in the postponement of the US-Soviet summit in Moscow, originally planned for February 1991. The American administration, backed by most of its NATO allies, declared that it would not submit the CFE Treaty to the US Senate for ratification until the Soviet Union affirmed the generally accepted interpretation of

Weapon innovation: networks and guiding principles

The present path of weapon innovation, meant to increase national security, may actually undermine it. Present arms control negotiations, such as the CFE (Conventional Armed Forces in Europe), focus on reductions of troops and existing conventional weapons. In a situation of reduced levels of armament, qualitative changes arising from weapon innovations may pose an even greater threat to stability and thus to (inter)national security. Up till now these have not been part of arms control negotiations. This article explores how to make arms control considerations part and parcel of the military technological innovation process. It introduces the specifically well-defined concept of 'guiding principle' as an instrument for decentralized control of innovation in military technology and applies theoretical constructs (notably a network analysis) from the sociology of technology to analyze the developmental process of the European Fighter Aircraft and its radar.

NATO's Conventional Defenses (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 207 5. What economic opportunities and constraints assist or impede development , and what are the political ramifications? Steven Sallie's well-conceived empirical analysis concludes that the conventional approach to growth— economic openness to international trade— is highly and consistently correlated with political repression. Other alternatives, such as borrowing from outside lenders, may be appropriate short-term responses but not long-term answers, according to Sheik Ali. Robert Clute argues that regional integration policies such as those pursued by the Southern African states represent a viable option, but not without certain costs. Finally, external economic constraints, such as American economic sanctions against Nicaragua, can prevent successful economic development and political stabilization in certain circumstances. The main shortcoming of this volume is the lack of a clear, unifying thread linking the widely disparate topics. Instead of a more comprehensive view, the book is more a series of 'snapshots' that have little thematic congruity, making it incumbent on the reader to sift through concepts and facts to infer broader themes. Also, several important aspects of life in the Third World are left unaddressed . The book fails to include sufficient analysis of East Asia, where the most promising experiments in overcoming underdevelopment have occurred. A chapter on Thailand or the Philippines would have given the work a broader and more balanced touch. Finally, the book does not deal effectively with war, an overriding issue that affects all developing regimes. All too often the best conceived development strategies fail because of endemic conflict and political strife. Despite these omissions, Third World at the Crossroads captures the complexity of the crisis confronting the developing world and works toward an explanation of how it might be solved. Sheik Ali highlights the positive theme that "each nation has its own genius and destiny to fulfill." Yet this cannot accomplished in a vacuum. If development is to succeed, it must be the result of a synthesis of traditional ways and modern advancement, and of external help and internal initiative. Developing countries must come up with realistic and pragmatic answers to the many social, economic, cultural and religious problems they face. As Sheik Ali concludes, "Years of toil and perseverance, of constraint and privation, lie ahead of them. The problems of poverty, hunger , disease, and illiteracy cannot be solved by the magic wand of freedom alone." NATO's Conventional Defenses. By StephenJ. Flanagan. Cambridge, Mass.: Ballinger Publishing Company for the International Institute for Strategic Studies, 1988. 161 pp. Reviewed by Thomas Halverson, M.Phil. Candidate, Department of War Studies, King's College, London. After languishing as an orphan to nuclear arms control for the past twenty years, more favorable international conditions and a change in arms control priorities by the Bush administration have pushed conventional arms control to higher status on the arms control agenda. Compared to the Mutual and Balanced Force 208 SAIS REVIEW Reduction negotiations, which moved at a glacial pace for 14 unsuccessful years, changes in the Warsaw Pact and progress at the new Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) negotiations are moving at a dizzying pace. Interested observers of CFE issues would do well to consult Stephen J. Flanagan's guide to past and present NATO policy issues. Flanagan's book, published before the author became director of Conventional Force Issues on the Policy Planning Staff of the Department of State, examines a plethora of official and unofficial proposals for improving NATO's conventional defenses that have surfaced in the 1980s. The section on shortrange arms control deserves careful reading for its insights into the author's frame of reference on NATO's CFE negotiations. Most of the book analyzes the impact of new weapons technologies, military tactics, French and Spanish roles in NATO, and national specialization in roles and missions as they apply to NATO's conventional defense objectives. Understanding the effect of these issues on NATO's conventional military posture is fundamental to putting the political , economic and military pressures of the CFE negotiations in context. Combined research, development, and procurement for expensive weapons systems has long been a goal of NATO planners. Flanagan outlines recent NATO armaments cooperation plans, including NATO's Conventional Defense Improvement (CDI) plan which set out...