Arms Control, the FRG, and the Future of East-West Relations

The political dimension of arms control has always had special significance for the Federal Republic of Germany, not only because of the issue of a divided Germany and a partitioned Europe but also because of the country's key position in the Western security alliance. In the wake of NATO's recent decision to deploy more nuclear weapons on German soil, and in the absence of progress on arms control, it has become clear that arms control measures and negotiations have assumed an importance far beyond their military-technical components; fundamental questions about the nature of East-West relations and the future shape of the transatlantic alliance and the European political order also have been raised. These essays explore the implications of arms control negotiations for the Federal Republic of Germany and consider why Germany has traditionally found it impossible to divorce considerations of arms control from their larger political context.