ABSTRACT
The central issue in the American debate over the Strategic Defense Initiative understandably revolves around the extent to which strategic defenses could improve the security of the continental United States. Moreover, Europeans are profoundly convinced that their security rests on America's recognition of its own vulnerability. For Europeans, American-European solidarity is not just a matter of declared interests, but of shared fate. Americans may differ among themselves and with their European allies about the significance, prospects, and limitations of East-West cooperation. From the European perspective, the major issue is whether only US targets would be protected against ballistic missile attacks, or those in Western Europe as well. The risk for the Soviet Union of a major attack against Western Europe would be significantly lower than it has been throughout the nuclear age.
