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

CHAPTER 5
RUSSIAN DOCTRINE ON TACTICAL NUCLEAR
WEAPONS:
CONTEXTS, PRISMS, AND CONNECTIONS 1
Jacob W. Kipp
The attention given to tactical or non-strategic nuclear
weapons (NSNWs) has undergone a rather rapid
metamorphosis since November 2011. Up to that time
discussions of reductions in tactical nuclear weapons
(TNWs) were tied to progress towards Global Zero
<strong>and</strong> seen as a logical follow-on to the U.S.-Russian
strategic arms reduction treaty (START III) agreement
reducing strategic nuclear offensive systems. 2 Russia
was dem<strong>and</strong>ing the withdrawal of U.S. TNWs—the
B-61 bombs—from Europe as part of a campaign to
bring all TNWs back within the states that own them.
At the same time, Russia was dem<strong>and</strong>ing that the
United States provide “legally-binding statements”
that the European missile defense system being developed
by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(<strong>NATO</strong>) to deal with the ballistic missile threat from
certain rogue states would not evolve into a system
threatening Russian offensive ballistic missiles <strong>and</strong>
undermine deterrence. Rose Gottemoeller, Assistant
Secretary Bureau of Arms Control, Verification, <strong>and</strong>
Compliance, had laid out the U.S. position on negotiations
on TNWs, calling for Russia to provide an
inventory of its arsenal prior to the start of such negotiations,
a position rejected by the Russian Foreign
Ministry. 3
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