Russia and Issues of Demilitarization

Abstract

The fundamental political changes of the last decade have unquestionably led to the emergence of a new Europe, a continent if not yet free of military tensions then at least one in which the major powers have negotiated their way toward relative stability. The seeds of this change were sown in the years preceding the collapse of Soviet-dominated communism in east-central Europe (ECE). Mikhail Gorbachev’s leadership inspired new Soviet approaches to international security issues and offered concessions in arms control to further these approaches. The most visible result of these policies was the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty signed in 1987, a historic agreement which effectively eliminated an entire category of weapons from Europe. The late 1980s also saw the beginning of negotiations leading to agreements which were to have a substantial impact upon the size, structure and operational aims of military forces in Europe and which established a considerable degree of openness and transparency in military relations between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and its former adversaries in the Warsaw Pact. The 1990 Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), the Concluding Act of the Negotiation on Personnel Strength of Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (the 1992 CFE-1A agreement), the 1992 Vienna Document on Confidence and Security Building Measures (CSBMs) and the 1992 Treaty on Open Skies together represented a package of measures designed ‘to replace military confrontation with a new pattern of security relations’ in Europe, thereby helping to overcome the division of the continent.¹