ABSTRACT
On Sunday, August 23, 1988, over 300,000 Germans gathered at Ramstein United States (US) Air Force Base for the annual air show. Growing complaints about low-level flights by North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) aircraft reflected West German dissatisfaction with the considerable presence and operations of German and allied forces in their territory. West Germany offers the main continental pedestal on which US Atlantic and European power rests. The special nature of the German-American strategic link furnishes many of NATO's problems, like many of NATO's strengths. Although many German-American discussions on strategic, tactical, or arms control questions are bilateral, they deal with matters that concern the alliance as a whole, that must finally be addressed in an alliance context, and that often can only be solved within the alliance framework. NATO helps bridge many a gap, for German-American other disagreements, partly because others the parties concerned in a dispute have a stake in its successful resolution.
