ABSTRACT
American defense policy, beginning with the conclusion of the American involvement in Vietnam, has undergone a series of major reorientations. As the experience of the "neutron bomb" or enhanced radiation weapon demonstrated, the Carter administration may face difficulties in convincing the Western European nation-states that the proposed Strategic Arms Limitation II agreement will serve their defense interests as well as those of the United States. The Carter administration's policies with respect to North Atlantic Treaty Organization demonstrate a number of different concerns all directed toward increasing the overall combat capabilities of the alliance. The "neutron bomb" is basically an antitank weapon that owes its effectiveness to the fact that it unleashes a very intense, but short-lived burst of lethal radiation. The Carter administration's position on the issue of the emergence of "Eurocommunism " also offers some comparisons with the several administrations and is related, albeit indirectly, to American defense policy.
