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

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States <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> its allies, <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> that nuclear weap<strong>on</strong>s provide<br />

a military capability that makes them usable as actual<br />

instruments of war. The most recent U.S. overview of<br />

nuclear policy, the 2010 <str<strong>on</strong>g>Nuclear</str<strong>on</strong>g> Posture Review (NPR),<br />

recapitulated this ambivalence in its c<strong>on</strong>clusi<strong>on</strong>s by<br />

noting that America’s preference would be a world in<br />

which nuclear weap<strong>on</strong>s serve <strong>on</strong>ly as a deterrent, but<br />

that the time had not yet arrived to declare deterrence<br />

to be the sole purpose of the U.S. arsenal. Without a<br />

determinati<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> this overarching issue, the future<br />

of tactical weap<strong>on</strong>s in Europe will remain unclear as<br />

well.<br />

2. Does <str<strong>on</strong>g>NATO</str<strong>on</strong>g> need to counter <strong>on</strong>ly Russia, or does it<br />

need to retain nuclear abilities for other uses? The United<br />

States, Canada, <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> Europe need to decide what role<br />

NSNWs play in Atlantic security. It may well be pointless<br />

to try including the Russians in this c<strong>on</strong>versati<strong>on</strong>.<br />

Increasingly, Russia’s thinking <strong>on</strong> nuclear weap<strong>on</strong>s<br />

is driven by internal Russian beliefs <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> problems<br />

rather than actual threats from <str<strong>on</strong>g>NATO</str<strong>on</strong>g> or any<strong>on</strong>e else.<br />

The Alliance will have to decide how much Europe’s<br />

security is threatened, if at all, by Russian foreign policy.<br />

In any case, the deployment of NSNWs in Europe<br />

should reflect potential threats to <str<strong>on</strong>g>NATO</str<strong>on</strong>g>’s security<br />

rather than the haphazard distributi<strong>on</strong> of forces left in<br />

the wake of the Warsaw Pact’s collapse.<br />

3. Do TNWs need to remain in Europe itself? Even if<br />

the United States <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> its European allies decide that<br />

<str<strong>on</strong>g>NATO</str<strong>on</strong>g> should maintain a capability to c<strong>on</strong>duct substrategic<br />

nuclear strikes, it does not logically follow<br />

that NSNWs need physically to remain in Europe—<br />

especially if Russia is no l<strong>on</strong>ger the main security c<strong>on</strong>cern.<br />

The basing of TNWs presents significant security<br />

<str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> maintenance challenges, as is the case with any<br />

installati<strong>on</strong> where nuclear weap<strong>on</strong>s are present. On a<br />

509

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