NATO’s strategy for managing a potential Soviet attack in Europe still relies on containing the Soviet intervention in the first one to two weeks in central and northern Germany, before potentially moving on to the use of nuclear weapons. The strategy, called “flexible response,” envisions the use of conventional force for an initial period, which the Americans believe should last as long as possible, while the Germans believe it should be as short as possible to avoid the use of nuclear weapons on their own soil. This strategy will lead to the development and deployment of cruise missiles in Western Europe and SS-20s in the Warsaw Pact.
