Italian Ambassador to Moscow, Romano, shares his reflections on the change in Soviet SDI strategy. Romano's analysis underlines the politically fragile and potentially dangerous situation that could emerge as the result of nuclear disarmament in Europe.

The report seeks to assess the possible strategic and political implications if Europe decides to join the SDI. It is difficult to predict the reaction of the Soviet Union, but ramifications for East-West relations cannot be ignored.

Brief note about the current position of Italy vis-a-vis Libya. Although state-supported terrorism in Libya should be fought, it is important to avoid escalating the antagonistic sentiments and pushing Libya to align with the USSR.

The document describes initial reactions to the signing of the Agreement on the Prevention of Nuclear War in Washington. The new agreement raises concerns over the bipolar focus of US-USSR relations, NATO's traditional strategy, and poses questions related to autonomous European defense.

The telegram decribes West Germany's reactions on Gorbachev's December 7, 1988 address at the UN where he announces drastic changes in Soviet foreign and security policy.

Secretary of State, George P. Schultz analyzes US position following the collapse of the US-Soviet talks in Reykjavik. He discusses credibility of nuclear deterrence, US commitment to Europe and increasing conventional forces.

Report from the Italian permanent representative to NATO, Tornetta, from the CSCE meeting in Madrid discusses the French proposal for a Conference on Disarmament (CDE) in Europe, and the negative impact of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan on the international climate, even giving rise to disagreement among NATO members.

Summarizes the first comments from Min. Foreign Affairs on the agreement Soviet-American for the Prevention of Nuclear War. It is said that the philosophy of this agreement appears to have contradictions with regard to the classic strategy of NATO and diminish the credibility of the latter. Conceptions NATO military will have to be updated in light of recent agreements and ongoing trends around the Russian-American bipolarity. Just because you are at a "secondary" compared to the two supergrandi, Europeans should take the opportunity arising from this new trend to seriously address the issue of their defense. The prospect more desirable at this stage is an acceleration of proesso European unification, including the appearance of its "independent" defense.