Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions

If any evidence were needed that arms control talks which have been set in motion for political purposes without a clear basis for agreement can lead to futility and stagnation, it is provided by the Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions (MBFR) talks. Exploratory talks on Mutual Reductions on Forces and Armaments and Associated Measures in Central Europe opened in January 1973, and the negotiations proper began in Vienna on 30 October of the same year. The origins of MBFR arose out of a sense of political, rather than military, problems and opportunities. The inability to make any dent in Soviet capabilities for surprise attack, and vexed question of data, appear to have persuaded NATO to turn negotiations into something quite different, by playing down force reductions side of whole enterprise and emphasizing ‘associated measures’. In these circumstances, NATO naturally gravitated towards the principle of parity.