Word: pacts
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...most immediate challenge is to preserve NATO unity in the face of dwindling adversity. Likewise, Gorbachev's immediate challenge will be to see how far he can go in Eastern Europe toward a system based on "freedom of choice," rather than the "threat of force," without the Warsaw Pact disintegrating...
...former supreme commander of NATO. Echoed David Abshire, a former U.S. Ambassador to the Alliance: "It's a bold, masterful move, among the most consequential in NATO's 40-year history." As NATO's foreign ministers convened in Brussels, the Secretary-General of the West's 16-nation military pact was far more subdued but still upbeat. "It's an encouraging development which we welcome," said West Germany's Manfred Worner...
Despite the divergent assessments, military strategists agreed on two major points: 1) Gorbachev's reductions will bring the NATO and Warsaw Pact deployments in the collision-point region closer to, but still far from, a stable balance, and 2) the Soviet retrenchment will not diminish the Kremlin's ability to retain its military grip on its East bloc neighbors...
...Soviet tanks based in the three satellite nations (Poland, conspicuously, was not mentioned). "No matter how you slice it, Gorbachev can't make these tank cuts in these areas without seriously affecting their offensive capability," said Anthony Cordesman, a Washington-based military analyst. While the Soviets and their Warsaw Pact allies still would have some 41,500 battle tanks between the Ural Mountains and the forward NATO positions, their advantage would be reduced from a 2.3-to-1 to a 1.9-to-1 ratio. That is still a solid edge, yet the assumption of the West is that it must...
Sixteen such divisions are based outside the Soviet Union in Eastern Europe, so the elimination of six would be significant. An additional twelve tank divisions are maintained by other Warsaw Pact nations. NATO has about 14 divisions, including two from the U.S. A NATO division has more manpower (16,600 vs. 12,000) and tanks (348 vs. 328). The East would retain an edge in armored divisions...