Reducing Threat Perceptions: Guidelines for Enhanced Stability in Europe

Abstract

The scrutiny of threat perceptions in Western, Eastern, and neutral and non-aligned states indicates that a major common element in the national and collective assessments of these countries is the concern about the dangers of crisis instability. It also suggests that threat perceptions themselves have become a serious source of uncertainty and instability, and that the search for policy options that can serve to mitigate them should be an urgent task for all involved. Consequently, policy guidelines aimed at enhancing stability in Europe by reducing threat perceptions must articulate and bear upon the determinants of perceived threats in the relations between the main actors on the European scene.