Tactical Nuclear Weapons and NATO.pdf - Program on Strategic ...

that the left-wing government of Roh Moo-Hyun had
trumpeted. 43 Successive governments in Japan, meanwhile,
have resisted building up their military forces
to take a more equal role in the alliance <strong>and</strong> have thus
far refused to alter the alliance treaty to commit Japan
to the defense of the United States, leaving the relationship
a unilateral commitment by Washington to
defend Japan.
CONTEMPORARY ISSUES FOR U.S. NUCLEAR
WEAPONS POLICY IN ASIA
The Asian nuclear l<strong>and</strong>scape is changing, however.
44 Allies such as Japan, South Korea, <strong>and</strong> Australia
are pressing to gain greater insight into <strong>and</strong> even
influence on the U.S. nuclear weapons policymaking
process <strong>and</strong>, ultimately, posture. In recent years, the
Japanese government, for instance, has broken from
its h<strong>and</strong>s-off tradition on U.S. nuclear weapons policy
to importune the United States to reaffirm the nuclear
element of its security umbrella both during the Congressional
Strategic Posture Commission of 2008-09
<strong>and</strong> during the Obama administration’s <strong>Nuclear</strong> Posture
Review of 2009-10, specifically—though unsuccessfully—pushing
for the retention of the nuclear variant
of the Tomahawk l<strong>and</strong> attack missile (TLAM-N) for
attack submarines. 45 The Lee administration in South
Korea, meanwhile, insisted that the United States emphasize
the nuclear aspect of its security guarantee to
the ROK after the resurgence in provocative North
Korean behavior that began in 2009. 46 In response the
United States has jointly established bilateral committees
with Japan <strong>and</strong> South Korea on nuclear weapons
<strong>and</strong> related strategic issues, <strong>and</strong> has sought to institutionalize
trilateral <strong>and</strong> quadrilateral forums on these
matters, though with less success. 47
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