The rise and fall of Spain's ‘nuclear exceptionalism’

Abstract

The present article looks at the evolution of Spanish views on deterrence and non-proliferation. Like every member state of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), Spain is covered by the US nuclear umbrella and has accepted the logic of deterrence, while at the same time maintaining a denuclearised status and committing to the goal of disarmament enshrined in the non-proliferation treaty. This article explores the background of Spain's apparently contradictory situation as a denuclearised member of NATO and how it positions itself in regard to the nuclear question in the current security context. It concludes that while Spanish nuclear ‘exceptionalism’ originally rested on the reluctance of the political elites to alter the precarious compromise that once allowed for Spain's accession to NATO as a denuclearised member, it gradually withered away to give way to a close alignment with Alliance policies driven by a desire to preserve strong security links with its partners.

Keywords:

• Spanish security policy
• extended deterrence
• NPT
• nuclear weapons
• NATO

Acknowledgements

The author thankfully acknowledges the diligent research assistance by Vicente Portela and the advice provided by Prof. Vicente Garrido and by Dr. David García Cantalapiedra, as well as by two anonymous reviewers.

Notes on contributor

Dr Clara Portela is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Singapore Management University. She holds a PhD from the European University Institute in Florence and an MA from the Free University of Berlin. She is the author of the monograph European Union Sanctions and Foreign Policy (Routledge 2010) and of several articles on the foreign and security policy of the EU, which have appeared in journals such as Security Dialogue and Comparative European Politics. She has held visiting positions with the Institute for Security Studies of the EU (France), Carleton University (Canada), University of London (UK) and the Australian National University (Australia). Her research interests include non-proliferation and disarmament, sanctions and Europe-Asia relations.

Notes

1. All quotations from non-English sources are the author's translation.