After Afghanistan-The Long Haul: Safeguarding Security and Independence in the Third World

Afghanistan and Iran have underlined the clear necessity of a coordinated Western approach to conflicts in the Third World. Yet the Western nations have hardly begun to hammer out an effective response, and have no existing means of orchestrating foreign policy consultation on Third World developments and contingency politico-military planning. Because the geographical limits set by the NATO treaty are often cited as an impediment to such planning, this timely study by the Atlantic Council is of considerable significance. Although it usefully states the need for a common Western approach, much more thought still needs to be given to how it could be implemented.