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

positions, preoccupations, <strong>and</strong> priorities. The following
are examples relevant to the current discussions of
nuclear policy: French sensitivity to any development
that could be seen as weakening the role of nuclear
weapons, nuclear deterrence, <strong>and</strong> its own national deterrent;
German insistence that arms control <strong>and</strong> disarmament
should play a greater role in the search for
security <strong>and</strong> stability; <strong>and</strong> the continuing suspicion of
members from Central <strong>and</strong> Eastern Europe (CEE) towards
Russia.
Sometimes these positions are of such importance
that they become red lines through which the country
concerned can move only with difficulty or as the
result of compromises <strong>and</strong> concessions achieved in
other areas. Achieving consensus involves responding
to <strong>and</strong> finding a balance between these different
<strong>and</strong> frequently conflicting national priorities.
The process also has to accommodate the groupings
of countries who meet informally from time to
time <strong>and</strong> whose consultation outside the formal 28-nation
framework can play a significant role in identifying
the route to consensus. These groupings would include
the three nuclear powers (the United States, the
United Kingdom [UK] <strong>and</strong> France); the big four (or
Quad—the United States, UK, France, <strong>and</strong> Germany),
whose agreement is an essential basis for eventual
consensus; <strong>and</strong> the grouping of countries interested
in promoting arms control <strong>and</strong> disarmament, known
in the trade as “the usual suspects,” normally comprising
Germany, Norway, the Netherl<strong>and</strong>s, Belgium,
<strong>and</strong> Canada, with others associated from time to time.
This latter grouping provides what they see as an important
balance to the influence of the nuclear members.
These <strong>and</strong> other informal groupings which are
frequently created in response to circumstances con-
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