ABSTRACT
U.S. ability to respond to the situation in Europe suffers more than anything from the internal contradictions of our own attitude toward democracy in the alliance context. Alliance cohesion, despite near-universal recognition of its importance to the sustained functioning of any alliance, is an elusive, little understood phenomenon. If consensus is the foundation on which cohesion is built, then most assuredly public opinion is the brick and mortar constituting that foundation. The force of public opinion, Walter Lippmann wrote, is partisan, spasmodic, simple-minded, continuously interested, nonpartisan, creative, and executive. Grethe Vaerno, a member of the Norwegian Parliament, has called for the formulation of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization public opinion strategy as a necessary precursor to the reestablishment of consensus and support for Western security policy. The need for a public opinion strategy is every bit as urgent as the need for a military strategy.
