ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the way Europeans perceive their security in the new international context, the various options open to Europeans in reinforcing their security, and the role of public opinion in the peace movement. Europeans have discovered the virtues of arms control as a tool to reinforce their security and to reduce the threats of an unrestrained arms race. Arms control was one of two tracks foreseen by North Atlantic Treaty Organization in relation to the modernization process. European countries directly concerned were eager to see the negotiations start. Considering the erosion of the US guarantee, some European experts came up with formulas that might compensate for the shift of the military balance in favor of the Eastern side. Trends in US foreign policy, notwithstanding the withdrawal of Secretary of State Haig, seem to indicate that European security interests are understood to some extent in Washington and that the crisis will be resolved.
