EUROPEAN PERCEPTIONS AND EAST-WEST COMPETITION

This paper was written for a panel dealing with the systematic assessment of Soviet-American competition. It focuses upon one psychological dimension of this competition, perceptions of Western European leaders concerning the state of East-West tension in Europe. Its goals are to show, in a systematic manner, the course taken by these perceptions in France, the United Kingdom, and the Federal Republic of Germany, and to relate these perceptions to other elements in the system of East-West competition that has existed since WW II.