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

<strong>NATO</strong> foreign ministers, led by U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton, steadied matters for a while at their
informal meeting in Tallinn, Estonia, in April 2010, affirming
that there would no unilateral action by any
member to alter the status quo. The Clinton/Tallinn
formula served to clarify the Washington position. It
also affirmed <strong>NATO</strong>’s retention of nuclear status, in
the context of shared responsibilities, while promising
to work towards reducing the role of nuclear weapons.
It was thus able to paper over what had clearly been
revealed to be deep cracks in the European stance.
<strong>NATO</strong>’s new Strategic Concept, adopted at the
Lisbon, Portugal, Summit in November 2010, stated
that the Alliance will “maintain an appropriate mix of
nuclear <strong>and</strong> conventional forces,” <strong>and</strong> will “ensure the
broadest possible participation of Allies in collective
defence planning on nuclear roles, in peacetime basing
of nuclear forces, <strong>and</strong> in comm<strong>and</strong>, control, <strong>and</strong>
consultation arrangements.” 4 But the fact was that the
Strategic Concept steered clear of any more specific refashioning
of <strong>NATO</strong>’s nuclear posture, <strong>and</strong> for good
reason. That refashioning would instead be entrusted
to a separate review. Again, it was a reflection of the
concerns in Washington <strong>and</strong> certain other European
capitals that this review was formulated as a Defense
<strong>and</strong> Deterrence Posture Review (DDPR), to avoid isolating
the nuclear issue. But the mood music from this
review has developed into a steady beat of lowered
ambitions <strong>and</strong> expectations. Reflective of the pitfalls
across Europe <strong>and</strong> from Europe across the Atlantic,
the chances that it will offer anything definitive on the
future of forward-deployed nuclear weapons seem
significantly diminished. Even talk of offering at least
a path towards a reduced nuclear role in future <strong>NATO</strong>
strategy via a reworking of the Alliance’s declaratory
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