ABSTRACT
In June 1984, the congressional pressure for American troop withdrawals from Western Europe reached, albeit very briefly, a level of intensity not seen since the debates of 1971 and 1973. The implication is that American demands for both compensation in Europe and direct European participation in out-of-area contingencies are likely to intensify rather than abate. In short, the pressures for a far-reaching reappraisal of the American military presence in Western Europe may be irreversible, although the outcome of such a review would not inevitably be a draw-down in the American contingent. An additional consideration is that there have been considerable improvements in Warsaw Pact conventional forces over the last decade or so, and it would appear somewhat imprudent for the United States to opt out of its traditional policy of attempting to offset Soviet advances by improvements in its own capabilities.
