The Future of European Defence

Proceedings of the second international Round Table Conference of the Netherlands Atlantic Commission on May 24 and 25, 1985

In May 1985 the Netherlands Atlantic Commission organized its Second International Round Table Conference in the Ridderzaal at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The Conference was attended by 52 direct participants from the United States of America, the United Kingdom, France, the Federal Republic of Germany and The Netherlands. Amongst these were prominent representatives of politics, science, media and peace groups. Under the chairmanship ofMr. Piet Dankert, former President of the European Parliament and former Vice Chairman of the Netherlands Atlantic Commission, and in the presence of 200 observers, the participants discussed the most topical themes of the European security debate. The themes of discussion were each introduced by an outstanding member of the international political scene. The verbatim texts and subsequent discussions have been edited and printed according to the order of the Conference. The editors have furthermore added for the sake of completeness a discourse by Ambassador Maynard Glitman, US negotiator in Geneva on Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces, on the principles and prospects of the US negotiating position. This discourse was held during the annual Study Conference of the Netherlands Atlantic Commission at October 11th, 1985. The Atlantic Commission wishes to express its gratitude to the Algemene Loterij Nederland and the European Cultural Foundation for providing funds for its second international Round Table Conference.