NATO and Nuclear Weapons

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NATO states call for removal of us nuclear weapons from europe

In late February 2010, several newspapers reported that five NATO states - Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Norway- plan to call for the removal of all the remaining US nuclear weapons on European soil. This follows the earlier call by a Belgian 'Gang of Four' in an op-ed piece in the country's national newspaper 'De Standaard', and the adoption last year by the German coalition government of a policy pressing for the removal of US nuclear weapons from Europe. Here are a selection of the articles including a comment piece on the German policy by Acronym contributor Martin Butcher.

• In praise of … a nuclear-free Europe, Editorial, The Guardian, 24 February 2010
• EU NATO allies to call for removal of US nuclear weapons, Michael Sorense, Global Crisis News, 24 February 2010
• Burying nuclear relics of the cold war, Anne Penketh, Comment is free, The Guardian, 24 February 2010
• Five Nato states to urge removal of US nuclear arms in Europe, Julian Borger, The Guardian, 22 February 2010
• Five NATO States Want U.S. Nukes Out of Europe, Report Says, Global Security Newswire, 19 February 2010
• Top politicians promote a nuclear-free Europe, Flandersnews.be, 19 February 2010
• Ex ministers urge NATO to scrap nuclear arms, Jakarta Post/Associated Press, 19 February 2010
• German Coalition Policy on withdrawal of US nuclear weapons, Martin Butcher, 6 November 2009
• Germans press for removal of US nuclear weapons in Europe, Julian Borger, The Guardian, 6 November 2009

NATO Foreign Ministers' meeting, 3-4 december 2009

The NATO Foreign Ministers meeting which met in Brussels on December 3rd and 4th was largely focused on new plans adopted by the Obama administration for the war in Afghanistan. NATO has many thousands of troops committed to its ISAF mission, and many see the future of the Afghan War as central to the future of the Alliance. However, there was also discussion of a German initiative for the withdrawal of US nuclear weapons from Europe, and of the future of Alliance cooperation on missile defences. These strategic issues have been deeply divisive in NATO in recent years, but the evidence is that they are becoming less so.

Acronym coverage of the meeting:

• NATO Foreign Ministers Discuss Nuclear Withdrawal, Martin Butcher, December 2009
  

NATO launches new Strategic Concept debate, July-August 2009

NATO has launched the public debate on its new Strategic Concept at a conference in Brussels on 7 July.

• NATO Launches Strategic Concept Review, Disarmament News Review, Disarmament Diplomacy, No.91, Summer 2009
• Remarks by NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, 7 July 2009
• Remarks by former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, 7 July 2009
• Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Grushko interview on NATO, 2 July 2009
• 'Shared Responsibilities: A National Security Strategy for the United Kingdom, IPPR, 30 June 2009

New NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has also set out his "roadmap" for the new Strategic Concept. He has established a group of 12 experts chaired by Madeleine Albright, and co-chaired by Jeroen van der Veer, former CEO of Royal Dutch Shell with the remit of consulting with governments, think tanks, NGOs and other international organisations. NATO has launched a special web page dedicated to the Strategic Concept development at www.nato.int/strategic-concept.

More Acronym coverage of NATO

• NATO-Russia Relations and Missile Defence, Proliferation in Parliament, Summer 2009
• NATO Nuclear Policy and the Strategic Concept, Proliferation in Parliament, Summer 2009
• Missile Defence on the defensive, Nuclear Non-Proliferation News, Summer 2009
• NATO nuclear policy under pressure, Nuclear Non-Proliferation News, Summer 2009
• Nuclear withdrawals from Lakenheath, Nuclear Non-Proliferation News, December 2008
• NATO and Nuclear Weapons, Proliferation in Parliament, March - July 2008

NATO-Russia Informal Foreign Ministers' meeting, 27 June 2009

For coverage of the NATO-Russia Informal Foreign Ministers' meeting and the NATO Defence Ministers' meeting on 11-12 June see the NATO Monitor blog at:

• natomonitor.blogspot.com
• NATO-Russia Council meeting, 27 June 2009

NATO Summit, Strasbourg-Kehl, 3 - 4 April 2009

NATO's sixtieth anniversary summit at Strasbourg in France and Kehl in Germany on 3 - 4 April 2009 has launched a review of the Strategic Concept, the Alliance's highest level policy document. The current Strategic Concept was adopted in 1999 and set out NATO's commitment to nuclear weapons as the "supreme guarantee" of allied security. "The presence of United States conventional and nuclear forces in Europe remains vital to the security of Europe," the document states.

Acronym coverage of the summit:

• NATO Prepares to Review the Strategic Concept, by Martin Butcher, April 2009
• natomonitor.blogspot.com, for day by day coverage of the summit

Official Documents:

NATO Strasbourg / Kehl Summit, 3 - 4 April

• Declaration on Alliance Security, 4 April 2009
• Strasbourg / Kehl Summit Declaration, 4 April 2009
• Declaration on Afghanistan, 4 April 2009

Related Documents

• President Obama speech on nuclear disarmament, Prague, 5 April 2009
• Joint Statement by Presidents Medvedev and Obama on strategic reductions, 1 April 2009

Pre-Summit briefings:

• At the starting blocks: NATO Ministers prepare for Strasbourg-Kehl, by Martin Butcher, March 2009
• The Future of NATO: Discussions at the Munich Security Conference 2009, Martin Butcher, February 2009
• NATO nuclear policy: Opportunities to Strengthen the NPT, January 2009
• The Future of NATO and the 2009 Summit, by Martin Butcher, December 2008

See also:

• General calls for Trident rethink, former NATO Commander General Jack Sheehan interview with the BBC, 29 January 2009
• Letter to the Times by Field Marshal Lord Bramall, General Lord Ramsbotham and General Sir Hugh Beach, 16 January 2009
• Toward a nuclear-free world: a German view, By Helmut Schmidt, Richard von Weizsäcker, Egon Bahr and Hans-Dietrich Genscher, International Herald Tribune, 9 January 2009
• What Price Nuclear Blackmail? General Sir Hugh Beach, Issue No. 88, Summer 2008

For Acronym Coverage of the Munich Security Conference and the NATO informal Defence Ministers' meeting in February visit the NATO monitor blog at:

• natomonitor.blogspot.com

Foreign Ministers' Meetings, Brussels, 2 - 3 December 2008

Acronym consultant Martin Butcher reports on developments in NATO, including the latest ministers' meetings via the natomonitor blog.

• natomonitor.blogspot.com/

Background Documents

• The Alliance's Strategic Concept Approved by the Heads of State and Government participating in the meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Washington D.C. on 23rd and 24th April 1999
• Letter to the Times by Field Marshal Lord Bramall, General Lord Ramsbotham and General Sir Hugh Beach, 16 January 2009
• NATO at 60: Towards a New Strategic Concept, UK Secretary of State for Defence John Hutton speech, 15 January 2009
• Shared Destinies, IPPR Commission on National Security Interim Report, 27 November 2008
• Strategic Security Blog entries on NATO, including latest figures on US nuclear deployments in Europe

Articles from Disarmament Diplomacy

• What Price Nuclear Blackmail? General Sir Hugh Beach, Issue No. 88, Summer 2008
• Bucharest Summit: US Missile Defence Bases Continue to Divide NATO, by Nicola Butler and Martin Butcher, Issue No.87, Spring 2008
• NATO, Riga and Beyond, by Martin Butcher, Issue No. 82, Spring 2007
• NPT à la Carte? NATO and Nuclear Non-Proliferation, by Nicola Butler, April 2005
• Deep Divisions over Iraq at NATO's Istanbul Summit, by Nicola Butler, Issue No. 78, July/August 2004
• Tactical Nuclear Weapons: Europe's Redundant WMD by Hugh Beach, Issue No. 77, May/June 2004
• NATO's Istanbul Challenge: Transformation or Irrelevance? by Nicola Butler, Issue No. 77, May/June 2004
• NATO'S Future: To the Greater Middle East and Beyond? by Nicola Butler, Issue No.75, January / February 2004

See also: Acronym's NATO archive.

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