Summary

In response to a congressional request, GAO provided a detailed description of the topics covered during the Conventional Defense Study Group's workshops on the balance of conventional forces from both the U.S. and Soviet perspectives.

GAO found that the participants addressed four categories, including: (1) the assessment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)-Warsaw Pact balance of conventional forces in Central Europe; (2) deficiencies in conventional NATO forces; (3) recommendations for alleviating those deficiencies; and (4) a general estimate of the cost implications of implementing the recommendations and their feasibility with NATO countries' planned levels of defense spending.