ABSTRACT
The potential negative impact of military technology on the willingness of some states to continue the process of quantitative limitations of conventional forces in Europe must be addressed. The utilization of technology permitted the West to face the numerically superior armies of the East with better quality technology, achieved at a lower cost. Modern weapons technology is based on an extensive common technological base, consisting of specific materials, sensors, electronics, computers, fuels, engines and explosives. The scarcity of concrete proposals for the practical control of conventional military technology stands in stark contrast to the richness of the descriptive and analytical body of literature surrounding the institutional, economic, political and technical mechanisms at work in the development of military technology. The Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe Vienna Concluding Document of 1989 devoted much attention to science and technology in general and to genetic engineering, environmental degradation and protection and nuclear technology in particular.
