Striving for Military Stability in Europe

This study provides a preliminary assessment of the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) negotiation process, outlining the historical, political and diplomatic background to European arms control diplomacy, including an overview of the inter-alliance talks on mutual and balanced force reductions (MBFR) and the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE). It explores how issues were resolved in establishing the mandate for the CFE negotiation during 1987-8 and focuses on the seven rounds of negotiations in Vienna, from March 1989 until November 1990. The provisions of the CFE Treaty are highlighted, and the impact of CFE limits on the military forces of the state parties is analyzed. The book examines the first meetings of the Joint Consultative Group (JCG), established to resolve ambiguities about data and treaty interpretation, and explores the unilateral changes in doctrine and force planning in the USSR, the non-Soviet WTO countries and NATO that took place parallel to the CFE negotiation.