Word: pacts
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...beginning of the cold war, Western military planners have been preoccupied by a single goal in case of war: keeping columns of Soviet tanks and troops from reaching the heart of Europe. When the U.S. held a decisive nuclear edge, NATO threats to use battlefield nukes against the Warsaw Pact's numerically superior armies were a very effective deterrent. But the Soviets continued to strengthen both their nuclear and their conventional forces. As a result, Europeans began to be concerned that the U.S. would not use its nuclear arms to defend the Continent, for fear of provoking a Soviet...
...basis for Soviet military assistance to Syria is a treaty of "friendship and cooperation" that was signed by Assad and former Soviet Leader Leonid Brezhnev in Moscow in 1980. The pact was drawn up at a time when Syria's increasing isolation from other Arab countries was causing Assad to rethink a foreign policy that has been described as "acrobatic nonalignment." But even while courting Moscow's increased attentions, Assad has never been more than a reluctant Soviet suitor. For two years after the treaty's signing, Assad mysteriously failed to reappoint a Syrian Ambassador to Moscow...
Nonetheless, Cabinet Secretary Dan Meridor stressed that the Begin government did not consider its reservations to be a stumbling block to a final pact. "I don't see why the clarifications shouldn't be met," said Meridor. "Even if the clarifications aren't O.K., the agreement will be executed...
Even if Assad wants to pull out his forces, he is certain to demand a price. One possibility: a security pact with Lebanon seeking assurances that the Israelis will not be allowed to use Lebanese territory and that Beirut will take measures to prevent the smuggling of arms and men into Syria by such opponents of the Assad regime as the Muslim Brotherhood. Shultz has vowed not to become involved in a second round of shuttle diplomacy, but he may find himself on the road to Damascus more than once to secure Assad's cooperation. Only if he prevails...
...cheap. NATO's conventional commitment also remains relatively small compared to the Communist bloc forces. By having nuclear forces, Britain and France receive "more bang for the buck," so to speak; in theory these weapons serve as a deterrent to the huge conventional forces of the Warsaw Pact. In practice, they would have to survive a first strike by the Soviet SS-20s, and in any case their use in a wartime situation would be subject to innumerable uncertainties and problems. Because of the numerical superiority of the SS-20s, they would hardly stand up alone...