ABSTRACT
The Civilian Affairs Committee will continue to act as a spur to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and to member governments, because its role is to remind bureaucracies that the Alliance will only survive if a public consensus on its existence and policies is maintained. There is no doubt that NATO's policies have become a matter of controversy in every Alliance country, dividing the politicians and the public. The Soviet Union took the initiative in Europe in public relations terms, even to the extent of sending one of its senior officials to brief the European governments. Its message to the general public in Western Europe was the incompatibility of interests between the US Administration's preoccupation with the Strategic Defense Initiative and the European concern for a reduction in nuclear weapons in Europe. This Soviet public campaign underlines the continued importance for NATO and for Alliance member-countries of rebuilding public support for NATO and for defence policy.
