East Europe and the Warsaw Treaty Organization: The Question of Reliability.

This memorandum considers the question of ability and willingness of East European members of the Warsaw Treaty Organization to support Soviet decisions that require the commitment of WTO military forces. The author addresses the question in the areas of the political leadership, the military leaders, and the troops in the field, as well as from the perspective of maintaining internal stability within the WTO area itself versus offensive and defensive operations against NATO. He concludes that any independent action on the part of WTO members is highly unlikely either in an internal or external conflict. Author