ABSTRACT
The “crude” atomic bombs of the 1940s have been followed in both countries by a fantastic proliferation of weapons and delivery systems, so that today the two parts of a still-divided Europe are targeted by many thousands of warheads both in the area and outside it. An equally disturbing phenomenon is the gradual shift in the balance of argument that has occurred since the need to address the problem was first asserted in 1977. Then the expression of need was European, and in the first instance German; the emerging parity of long-range strategic systems was asserted to create a need for a balance at less than intercontinental levels. The uniqueness of the West German position can be readily demonstrated by comparing it with those of France and the United Kingdom. The two nations have distance, and in one case water, between them and the armies of the Soviet Union; they also have nuclear weapons.
