Abolishing nuclear weapons - A realistic perspective?

One of the consequences of the far-reaching political upheavals which took place internationally between 1989 and 1991 is the end of the system of mutual nuclear deterrence between East and West-a system which had previously been a determinant feature of global security. It was often accompanied by hopes that the loss of this function might make nuclear weapons superfluous once and for all, hopes standing in sharp contrast, admittedly, to the realisation that extremely fierce conflicts still exist in many regions of the world. Is there any reason for all the leaders of the countries involved in such confrontations agreeing in such situations that they cannot gain advantage from the possession of nuclear weapons? Against this background, Walter Schilling, an acknowledged expert resident in Garmisch-Partenkirchen who draws on long experience as inter alia the German military attache in Moscow, examines emergent tendencies in this context.