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

Hence, whatever course the Allies set regarding
NSNWs in their Defense <strong>and</strong> Deterrence Posture
Review (DDPR), which likely will be completed by
<strong>NATO</strong>’s Chicago, IL, Summit on May 20, 2012, they
cannot afford to treat the subject in isolation. Solidarity
on this sensitive topic will not guarantee solidarity
on other challenges facing the Alliance. However, a
perceived failure to achieve a substantial (versus superficial)
consensus on the future of NSNWs could
certainly deal a heavy blow to the Allies’ ability to cooperate
across the board.
DIFFERING THREAT PERCEPTIONS
<strong>NATO</strong> has been the primary guarantor of Europe’s
defense from armed attack since 1949. With the end of
the Cold War, <strong>NATO</strong> assumed new roles: building defense
<strong>and</strong> security partnerships with new democracies
in Central <strong>and</strong> Eastern Europe that prepared many for
Alliance membership; offering dialogue <strong>and</strong> cooperation
on political-military issues to Russia, Ukraine,
<strong>and</strong> other states of the former Soviet Union; <strong>and</strong> leading
complex military operations in the Balkans, Afghanistan,
<strong>and</strong> Libya. At the same time, <strong>NATO</strong> has
performed the vital job of promoting intra-European
as well as transatlantic collaboration on threat assessments,
political-military strategy, defense planning,
equipment st<strong>and</strong>ards <strong>and</strong> interoperability, <strong>and</strong>
training <strong>and</strong> exercises. Still, as memories of the Cold
War have faded <strong>and</strong> the Alliance has enlarged to 28
members, it is not surprising that the Allies have had a
difficult time in developing common assessments <strong>and</strong>
priorities regarding a range of 21st-century threats.
For many Americans, <strong>NATO</strong>’s solidarity <strong>and</strong> effectiveness
will be decided in the caldron of Afghanistan,
where (as of early 2012) non-U.S. Allies <strong>and</strong> partners
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