The Conventional Arms Balance, Part 3: Deterring Nuclear War in Europe

Publication Date: July 1986

Publisher: Heritage Foundation (Washington, D.C.)

Author(s): Manfred R. Hamm

Research Area: International relations

Keywords: National security

Type: Report

Abstract:

NATO must correct its deteriorating conventional force balance with the Warsaw Pact if it wants to deter Soviet-sponsored aggression and defeat an attack should deterrence fail. While NATO has endeavored since the late 1970s to bolster conventional defenses, these efforts have not offset the tremendous expansion of Warsaw Pact military capabilities. This forces NATO to depend more than ever on nuclear escalation to halt Warsaw Pact forces breaking through the West's brittle defenses. To make matters worse, the threat of nuclearescalation is losing credibility and may account in part for Western European weariness about the costs of resisting aggression.