Abstract

Pacificism is not a conjunctural accident. It is not a sudden fever preceding the installation of the Persing and Cruise missiles in the NATO countries. The “double decision” of 1979 — to install missiles capable of crossing the continent if the negotiations concerning the SS20's are not concluded in 4 years — has raised protests that go beyond simple anti-militarism: these protests have upset political life in at least two countries (West Germany and the Netherlands); they have spread to all of Western Europe; they have no equivalent in Eastern Europe (where a non-structured pacificist movement is weak and/or difficult to interpret) but they do have an equivalent in the U.S. in the Freeze and No-First-Strike pledge