Alan J. Vick

Building Confidence during Peace and War

Abstract : The Confidence Building Measures assessed in this Note are all fundamentally aimed at avoiding war or escalation. Although avoidance of war and escalation are high priorities for the United States, they are not only national objectives. If they were, there would be no crisis management dilemma. Rather, it is the tension between war avoidance and the protection of other U.S. interests that makes this problem so complex and subtle and, therefore, not amenable to formula solutions. This is further complicated by periodic changes in public and policymaker attitudes about the relative importance of war avoidance, defending allies, stopping Soviet expansionism, and other issues. The difficulty-for policymakers and analysts like-lies in balancing these and similar considerations. In many cases, traditional crisis management techniques may be more appropriate and effective than formal CBMs in balancing these competing interests. Keywords: Foreign policy, USSR, United States, Government, Cold war potential, Prevention.