The anti-missile demonstrations: The protests and their context

In a particular patch of land in Mutlangen, a small town near Stuttgart Germany, a casual visitor would find little out of the ordinary now. On an autumn evening not too long ago, a lone power shovel stood in the fields and two large bunkers, covered over with earth and grass, lay empty or had been converted to serve modest ends. One of the bunkers, for example, provided shelter for a flock of sheep and acted as a storage bin for bales of straw. On that cool autumn evening, the purple outline of the “Swabian Alb”—the high Swabian plateau-was visible against the sky.