Michael Boas Pedersen
Historien om et afslag – MLF og USA’s kamp for sit nukleare hegemoni

- English summary

The article provides an account of the history of the Multi Lateral Force concept introduced by the Eisenhower Administration in 1959, and how this concept changed significantly over time to fit the purposes of the various interests it was meant to accommodate. The motives were originally to strengthen Western Europe’s independence, thereby freeing the US of some of the burden of protecting it, but the MLF was also seen as a way of granting West Germany, in particular, a symbolic atomic capability without in reality ceding control over it. Finally, the MLF was meant to prevent the Europeans from diverting too many resources to nuclear weapons and away from conventional forces. The reasons why the concept came to nothing in the end are partly found to be in its impractical nature, and partly in the vehement opposition of the French government. Lack of British support for the idea struck the crowning blow to the concept, which never solidified into anything tangible.