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

a London or Paris perspective, their nuclear arsenals
are seen as “strategic.” The issue of TNWs was also
discussed during the 2000, 2005, <strong>and</strong> 2010 Non-proliferation
Treaty (NPT) Review Conferences. In the Final
Document of the 2010 NPT Review Conference, the
nuclear weapon states were called upon to “address
the question of all nuclear weapons regardless of their
type or their location as an integral part of the general
nuclear disarmament process.” 1 In the pages to follow,
we shall discuss the history of efforts to remove
TNWs; the complex distinction between strategic <strong>and</strong>
TNWs, their current numbers, <strong>and</strong> their deployment;
the debate in Europe about reducing or removing the
remaining warheads; <strong>and</strong> the arms control prospects
in Europe in the aftermath of the New Strategic Concept.
ARMS CONTROL EFFORTS IN THE PAST
In 1991, President George Bush <strong>and</strong> Soviet President
Mikhail Gorbachev announced that they would
remove from active service most of their TNWs
worldwide <strong>and</strong> eliminate many of them unilaterally.
In the Presidential <strong>Nuclear</strong> Initiatives (PNIs) of 1991
<strong>and</strong> 1992, both the United States <strong>and</strong> the Soviet Union
acknowledged that these weapons were no longer
useful for warfighting. In particular, the United States
withdrew its tactical munitions to its own territory
<strong>and</strong> eliminated all TNWs for ground forces, including
those from Europe <strong>and</strong> South Korea. The Soviet Union
eliminated TNWs for ground forces <strong>and</strong> removed tactical
nuclear warheads to central storages. One reason
was the growing concern about the safety <strong>and</strong> security
of Soviet nuclear weapons at a time of increasing
unrest on its territory. Between 1994 <strong>and</strong> 1995, the
two superpowers set up a Joint Working Group to
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