ABSTRACT
Confidence- and security-building measures (CSBMs) occupy a special place in the various concepts of arms control and disarmament in Europe. Hopes pinned on a system of military confidence-building measures were increasing particularly at periods when talks on the reduction and limitation of armaments produced little or no concrete results. The provisions on confidence-building measures included in the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) Final Act had more of a political and psychological than military significance. The controlling theme of the decisions contained in the Stockholm document is a wish to see all CSCE states feel more certain that surprise attack in Europe is impossible. It stands to reason that the measures tabled and discussed at the Stockholm conference, but that had not won consensus, could as well be put again on the negotiating table during talks on new CSBMs.
