ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the conventional force postures that may be open to North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The conventional posture, though, is inextricably bound up with the posture for theater nuclear weapons, which is also inadequate. Although Europeans, therefore, want a nuclear core to the strategy, they have increasingly come to accept the need for strong conventional forces for a number of reasons. The chapter discusses the central sector, partly because it is the key one and partly because the scope for making a change is greater there—even though there are some entrenched barriers in the way. If the defense posture is less than adequate in the context of nuclear parity, deterrence can hardly be regarded as stable. Without nuclear parity, a weak conventional defense would surely give cause for alarm, certainly against a background of growing Soviet military activity.
