Mild Shake-Out


in the contest of will and nerves that dominates the cold war. The military and non-military functions are related because military strategy is a major medium through which the allies exert their political influence, not only with respect to the adversary but also with respect to each other. Thus Britain had adopted an independent nuclear programme to strengthen its special relationship with the US; West Germany's ardent support of military integration enabled it to become a major power on the Continent without arousing domestic or allied apprehension and Germany's allies have regarded its contribution to NATO as an instrument of restraint; France's withholding of naval and air units from integration, and its independent nuclear programme were attempts to improve its general status in the alliance. The progressive entanglement of the United States in the military and political policies of Western Europe and the progressive entanglement of the major European allies in each other's policies is unmistakably obvious. At the root of NATO's present troubles is a complex of related strategic issues