The NATO alliance also has moved forward during the past year with the implementation of its historic December 1979 decision to modernize its Theater Nuclear Force capabilities through deployment of improved Pershing ballistic missiles and ground-launched cruise missiles in Europe.  Our allies continue to cooperate actively with us in this important joint endeavor, whose purpose is to demonstrate convincingly to the Soviet Union the potential costs of a nuclear conflict in Europe.  At the same time, we offered convincing evidence of our commitment to arms control in Europe by initiating preliminary consultations with the Soviet Union in Geneva on the subject of negotiated limits on long-range theater nuclear forces.  Also, during 1980 we initiated and carried out a withdrawal from our nuclear weapons stockpile in Europe of 1,000 nuclear warheads.  This successful drawdown in our nuclear stockpile was a further tangible demonstration of our commitment to the updating of our existing theater nuclear forces in Europe.

In the NATO area, we continued to work closely with other countries in providing resources to help Turkey regain economic health.  We regretted that massive political and internal security problems led the Turkish military to take over the government on September 12.  The new Turkish authorities are making some progress in resolving those problems, and they have pledged an early return to civilian government.  The tradition of the Turkish military gives us cause to take that pledge seriously.  We welcomed the reestablishment of Greece’s links to the integrated military command structure of the Atlantic Alliance—­a move which we had strongly encouraged—­as a major step toward strengthening NATO’s vital southern flank at a time of international crisis and tension in adjacent areas.  Greek reintegration exemplifies the importance which the allies place on cooperating in the common defense and shows that the allies can make the difficult decisions necessary to insure their continued security.  We also welcomed the resumption of the intercommunal talks on Cyprus.

THE U.S.  AND THE PACIFIC NATIONS

The United States is a Pacific nation, as much as it is an Atlantic nation.  Our interests in Asia are as important to us as our interests in Europe.  Our trade with Asia is as great as our trade with Europe.  During the past four years we have regained a strong, dynamic and flexible posture for the United States in this vital region.

Our major alliances with Japan, Australia and New Zealand are now stronger than they ever have been, and together with the nations of western Europe, we have begun to form the basic political structure for dealing with international crises that affect us all.  Japan, Australia and New Zealand have given us strong support in developing a strategy for responding to instability in the Persian Gulf.