What, if anything, will France's reintegration imply for the alliance debate on nuclear weapons?

Abstract

This article asks whether France's return to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)'s integrated military command could translate into a bigger role on nuclear issues within NATO. As NATO prepares its new strategic concept, its nuclear doctrine is bound to change as several allies have expressed their dissatisfaction with the status quo. The presence of American theater nuclear weapons in five NATO countries remains controversial. First, I argue that the removal of NATO's nuclear weapons does not mean the end of extended nuclear deterrence, by making a distinction between extended deterrence and collective-actor deterrence. Second, I compare the nuclear postures of NATO, France and the USA to show that harmonization is possible. Finally, I outline several options for a new nuclear doctrine under NATO and formulate some policy recommendations.

Keywords:

• France
• NATO
• nuclear weapons
• deterrence

Notes

1. Within NATO, this meant that the USA would have exclusive control over the nuclear arsenal.

2. Though the term TNWs is used here, it should be noted that the term tactical nuclear weapons is often used, as is the term sub-strategic nuclear weapons or non-strategic nuclear weapons. For the sake of consistency, the acronym TNW designing TNWs will be used throughout. Several authors have addressed these definitional issues: Andrea Gabbitas, ‘Non-Strategic Nuclear Weapons: Problems of Definition’ (Larsen and Klingenberger 2001,Woolf 2004, Larsen 2006).

3. Jeffrey Lewis has explored this option on his blog: armscontrolwonk.com. I thank Michel Fortmann for bringing this point to my attention.

4. It is noteworthy that the 2006 UK defense white paper also includes the notion of vital interests when reference is made to the country's its deterrence posture.

5. For more on France's deliberate ambiguity regarding its NATO commitments, see Yost (2005), Yost (2006), and Schmitt (1997).

6. The new START and the NPR were delivered in April 2010.

7. The USA holds 500 sub-strategic nuclear warheads while Russia's stockpile, though undeclared, is thought to number in the thousands.