This study shows that arms control agreements reflect rather than affect relations between the parties. The Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) codified parity between NATO and the Soviet-led Warsaw Treaty Organisation (WTO) in November 1990. CFE thus reflected the status quo at the end of the cold war, but the benefits were short lived, at least for Russia. Although still widely viewed in the west as the cornerstone of security and stability in post-Cold War Europe, from the Russian perspective CFE was soon overtaken by events. With the collapse of the WTO and the Soviet...

This new book traces the changing relationship between Russia and NATO through the prism of conventional arms control, and focuses on the negotiation, implementation and adaptation of the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty. It shows that arms control agreements reflect rather than affect relations between parties and how the CFE Treaty codified parity between NATO and the Soviet-led Warsaw Treaty Organization (WTO) in November 1990. It also shows how the CFE Treaty reflected the status quo at the end of the cold war, but the benefits were short lived, at least for Russia....