ABSTRACT
Many of NATO’s current problems are, to be sure, a manifestation of endemic tensions within the Alliance that flare up intermittently. However, the sharpness of the current debates reflects growing differences within NATO over the fundamental requirements of security. A number of issues such as the utility of emerging conventional weapons technology, the implications of the U.S. Strategic Defense Initiative, the protection of Western interests outside the North Atlantic Treaty area, the economic and domestic political dimensions of European security, and the search for a separate West European ‘defense identity’ have only recently become prominent or attained a new level of political saliency. The context and policy options attendant to these problems merit further scrutiny.
