The public discourse around nuclear weapons policy can be deceptively binary: countries should retain nuclear capabilities or they shouldn’t; nuclear weapons provide security and strategic stability or they don’t. However, it is generally only the tip of the iceberg that makes its way into mainstream debate. In reality, a web of incredibly technical, expert discussion takes place below the surface which defines how substantive nuclear policy decisions are taken.
Europe
Theater Nuclear Weapons – A Direct Threat to European Security
BASIC has had a lot to say over the years about U.S. theater nuclear weapons (TNW) in Europe. (I will repeat here, ad nauseam for some, that it is a grave mistake to call such weapons ‘tactical’; any deliberate nuclear explosion must have strategic consequences. ‘Theater’, meanwhile, simply denotes their basing posture and connotes their intended use, from within a military theater of operations.)
Summary of Roundtable Discussion on “NATO’s Future Nuclear Posture”
This paper highlights the main themes arising from a roundtable discussion held on July 25th, 2013 in Washington, D.C., which brought a small group of experts together with representatives from a number of NATO member states to discuss the future of NATO’s nuclear posture and engagement with Russia on arms control and nuclear weapons.
Fighting a prevailing Cold War mentality
The US Congress is entering its home stretch this week, as it works its way through five more hot and humid days before its month-long summer recess begins on Friday. Likewise, in Europe, many institutions have already wound down for their traditional August break. This is a chance to step out of the political fray, take stock and refocus.
Rethinking Nuclear Deterrence and Burden-Sharing
On Friday, BASIC brings together Oliver Meier (Germany) and François Rivasseau (France) to discuss extended deterrence and NATO nuclear burden-sharing as a part of our ongoing Strategic Dialogue series at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington, D.C.
New NATO Policy Publication: Countdown to Chaos?
NATO’s nuclear sharing program is in trouble. The United States has continuously maintained nuclear weapons in Europe since March 1954 (and NATO has agreed to this policy since December of that year). Since 1991, the only U.S. nuclear weapons in NATO’s arsenal have been B61 gravity bombs, designed for delivery to target by “dual-capable” fighter-bomber aircraft (DCA). These aircraft are rapidly reaching the end of their normal service lives, however, and are the only means by which NATO shares the threat of nuclear attack on potential opponents in times of crisis among several Allied nations.
Could the renewed focus on non-strategic nuclear weapons signal a new era in Euro-Atlantic security?
It is 22 years since the Presidential Nuclear Initiatives were announced soon after the fall of the Berlin wall. Presidents Bush and Gorbachev declared massive unilateral cuts to their holdings of short range tactical nuclear weapons, and their militaries set about the task of dismantling them.