Given the tensions between NATO members and Russia in recent times, it is important to rethink the role of nuclear weapons in NATO’s defense policy. A new report by the Nuclear Threat Initiative urges NATO leaders to reassess the desirability of forward-deployed tactical nuclear weapons in Europe.
Two contributions written by members of Pugwash Netherlands provide further context and proposals in order to denuclearize the European continent.
The first paper (below) produced by Pugwash Netherlands’ Working Group on ‘Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Weapons Free Zones’ (main author: Laurens Hogebrink) questions the wisdom of maintaining a policy of reciprocity concerning the drawback of forward-deployed tactical nuclear weapons in Europe.
The second paper (authored by Biejan Poor Toulabi) argues that the NATO will only benefit if the alliance were to lessen its reliance on nuclear weapons and, particularly, unilaterally remove forward-deployed tactical nuclear weapons in Europe.