ABSTRACT
After a decade of detente and Ostpolitik, Europe now faces yet another round of the nuclear arms race on its soil. The two-pillar doctrine that European security rests as much on the US nuclear deterrent as on detente and the reflection of this doctrine in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization two-track decision have, in the minds of many Europeans, proven not only unsuccessful but actually detrimental to European security. The political situation in Western Europe has changed dramatically since 1979. The European Peace Movement has had a decisive effect on established opinion makers as well. The chapter addresses the possibility European neutralism and deals with the particular political conclusions for the future of German politics. The most promising basis for a new approach to European security lies jointly in the proposals to remove nuclear weapons from Central Europe and to create a neutral zone there.
