ABSTRACT
This chapter considers where North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has been, where it stands, and the directions in which it should move in order to deal successfully with the increasingly complex and difficult challenges confronting us. The continued viability of the economies of NATO countries constitutes the essential prerequisite for their continued political and military effectiveness. The alliance between Western Europe and the North American powers preserved our peace and freedom and established an effective military shield behind which the West was able not only to rebuild, but to achieve unprecedented levels of prosperity and new forms of political and economic cooperation. It is clear that a failure on the part of the European allies to respond positively and resolutely to the new Soviet challenge, or to postpone a decision to deploy updated tactical nuclear weapons in due time in NATO Europe, would open Europe to Soviet blackmail and would significantly diminish the credibility of the nuclear deterrent.
