This book, first published in 1986, analyses a number of emerging, enduring and neglected issues that affected European security and the stability of the Atlantic Alliance at the end of the Cold War. It provides a comprehensive review of the major political, social and economic issues that shaped the course of European security. It offers a thorough assessment of such critical questions as European views of the US Strategic Defense Initiative, the contribution of new technologies and tactics to NATO's conventional defence capabilities, and domestic factors that influenced security policy. It also provides original analysis of a number of issues, such as economic dimensions of security, the quest for a European defence identity, and protection of Western interests outside the NATO area. It provides a review of the nuclear question and of the German security debate in the aftermath of the initial US INF missile deployments.

This book, first published in 1986, analyses a number of emerging, enduring and neglected issues that affected European security and the stability of the Atlantic Alliance at the end of the Cold War. It provides a comprehensive review of the major political, social and economic issues that shaped the course of European security. It offers a thorough assessment of such critical questions as European views of the US Strategic Defense Initiative, the contribution of new technologies and tactics to NATO's conventional defence capabilities, and domestic factors that influenced security policy. It also provides original analysis of a number of issues, such as economic dimensions of security, the quest for a European defence identity, and protection of Western interests outside the NATO area. It provides a review of the nuclear question and of the German security debate in the aftermath of the initial US INF missile deployments.

A review of the full range of recent official and non-official schemes for improving NATO's conventional posture, from exploitation of emerging technologies to non-provocative defences, in the light of prevailing military, political, economic and demographic trends.

The global war on terrorism has provided a new context for relations between the United States and China. As the September 2002 National Security Strategy of the United States of America makes clear, cooperation with China on a range of economic, political, security, and military issues increasingly serves U.S. interests. At the same time, this relationship retains elements of competition and the potential for confrontation, compounded by a legacy of periodic crises and mutual wariness. Achieving a national consensus on an appropriate balance in U.S.-China relations, especially in military-to-military affairs, remains a central challenge for those who analyze, formulate, and implement America's China policies.

The global war on terrorism has provided a new context for relations between the United States and China. As the September 2002 National Security Strategy of the United States of America makes clear, cooperation with China on a range of economic, political, security, and military issues increasingly serves U. S. interests. At the same time, this relationship retains elements of competition and the potential for confrontation, compounded by a legacy of periodic crises and mutual wariness. Achieving a national consensus on an appropriate balance in U.S.-China relations, especially in military-to-military affairs, remains a central challenge for those who analyze, formulate, and implement America's China policies. The distinguished contributors to this volume offer fresh and sometimes divergent assessments of major trends in Chinese society, national security policy, and military affairs as the "fourth generation" of national leaders settles into the seats of power. The essays examine leadership shifts under way in the People's Liberation Army and how the Chinese armed forces are coping with dramatic changes in economic and social life, the Chinese Communist Party's search for relevance, developments in the global security environment, and the revolution in military affairs. Also explored are trends in civil-military relations, growing Chinese nationalism, evolving PLA military capabilities, Beijing's approach to key regional and global issues, the prospects for U.S.-China relations and military-to-military cooperation, and the implications of these developments for U. S. defense planning. The People's Liberation Army and China in Transition provides insights into critical issues that willimpact China, the Asia-Pacific region, and world, and advances balanced assessments of U. S. policy options. I trust readers will find that it makes a valuable contribution to the ongoing national debate. Paul G. Gaffney II Vice Admiral, USN President

Since 2001, the United States has endured a tumultuous period, one dominated by the 9/11 attacks and all that has followed: the war on terrorism, the Afghan and Iraqi campaigns, looming confrontations with known or suspected proliferators of weapons of mass destruction, and episodic explosions of mass violence in chronically unstable regions. In this second half of the decade, these and related strategic challenges will test the skill, tenacity, and imagination of the current and the next U.S. administration and the American public. How well these challenges are managed then, or mastered, will greatly influence whether future historians look back upon this decade as a dangerous passage toward a more peaceful, globally connected order or as a descending path into an ever more fragmented, violent world.This volume explores seven looming, as yet unmastered strategic challenges facing the United States. Each chapter tackles one of the following challenges: tackling global terrorism, stopping WMD proliferation, undertaking defense transformation, protecting the homeland, strengthening relations with allies and partners, engaging other major powers, and defusing conflicts in unstable regions. Each chapter takes a similar approach: defining the problem at hand (i.e., a short discussion of relevant trends); explicating current U.S. efforts to master the challenge (i.e., U.S. objectives, methods, degree of success or setbacks); and analyzing looming choices that U.S. policymakers will face in the next decade and, as appropriate, the consequences of alternative courses of action. "Strategic Challenges" capitalizes on the great regional and topical expertise of the INSS professional research staffto present an authoritative overview of the global strategic environment facing the United States.