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

ons for their ostensible military value, hence the need
to maintain U.S. forces to ensure deterrence.
President Barack Obama highlighted this continuing
requirement for nuclear weapons in his April 2009
Prague, Czech Republic, speech in which he laid out
a vision of a nuclear-free world at some future point.
While highlighting the vision, he also emphasized
the flip side: that while the United States would take
“concrete steps towards a world without nuclear
weapons,” he recognized that the world was still a
dangerous place. Accordingly, he said, “As long as
these weapons exist, the United States will maintain a
safe, secure, <strong>and</strong> effective arsenal to deter any adversary,
<strong>and</strong> guarantee that defense to our allies.” 4
As a sovereign, independent nation-state, the primary
U.S. national security goal must be the protection
of its own people, territory, <strong>and</strong> interests. This is
a core security requirement, <strong>and</strong> the deterrent value
of America’s nuclear arsenal is unquestioned in this
realm. But as the President reminded us, the United
States has also promised to protect many of its friends
<strong>and</strong> allies around the world. It does this by extending its
nuclear <strong>and</strong> conventional “umbrella” over more than
30 states. The concept of extended deterrence simply
means that one state will provide security for another
state through the threat of punishment against a third
party that may wish to attack or coerce the second
state. It is a logical extrapolation of deterrence theory,
<strong>and</strong> is a promise not given lightly, nor to everyone.
Extended deterrence commits the United States to the
possibility of going to war with another great power
if necessary in order to protect a more vulnerable allied
state. 5 It is a policy that extends the protection of
America’s military, typically its nuclear umbrella, to
friends <strong>and</strong> allies far from North America <strong>and</strong> the U.S.
331