ABSTRACT
The basic Soviet approach to the Alliance rested upon a specific judgment about the role of the United States within that Alliance and the balance of power between Western Europe and the United States. This chapter focuses on the classic Soviet strategy in the 1970s and early 1980s in dealing with the Alliance. The role of "nuclear hostage" was to be impressed on the West German mind as a way of lessening the West German attachment to the United States. The Soviets perceived the evolution of French policy to be especially troubling, as France increasingly strived to strengthen the Alliance via Europeanization. The concern with the emergence of an enhanced European nuclear capability was reflected not only in Soviet assessments of the French but of the British as well. The Soviets expected the British orientation towards Europeanization to emphasize the nuclear component of European defense. The classical Soviet approach to the Alliance attempted to combine a political-military and military-technical strategy.
