ABSTRACT The renewed conflict between Russia and NATO has brought back security concerns over nuclear and conventional deterrence and defence in Europe. Since the days of the Cold War those two elements are closely intertwined, with direct ramifications on arms control policies. This article recalls the post-Cold War history of conventional arms control in Europe. It focuses on the underexplored impact of the US legislative during the mid-to-late-1990s. Relying on open sources from US Congress, the article traces the political standstill on conventional arms control to a crucial Congressional decision in the year 1997 which ultimately tied the future of this arms control regime to the solution of two protracted conflicts in the post-Soviet space. The article challenges the mainstream view that Russia is solely to blame for the dissolution of conventional arms control and concludes that without solving the standstill, nuclear arms control for Europe will as well remain deadlocked.

中文翻译：

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常规军备控制的终结与美国国会的作用

摘要俄罗斯与北约之间的新冲突使欧洲对核和常规威慑与防卫的安全担忧重新燃起。自冷战时代以来，这两个因素紧密相连，对军备控制政策有直接影响。本文回顾了冷战后欧洲常规军备控制的历史。它侧重于1990年代中期至后期美国立法机构未充分挖掘的影响。该文章依靠美国国会的公开资料，追溯了常规军备控制的政治停滞与1997年国会的一项关键决定，该决定最终将这种军备控制制度的未来与后苏联时期两次旷日持久的冲突的解决联系在一起。 。