Wolfgang Ischinger and Ulrich Weisser: Why NATO Should Withdraw Nukes from Germany
[Wolfgang Ischinger is a former deputy foreign minister of Germany and chairman of the Munich Security Conference. Ulrich Weisser was director of the policy planning staff of the German defense minister.]
A recent report by George Robertson, a former secretary general of NATO, and two co-authors, Franklin Miller and Kori Schake, criticizes the German proposal to withdraw the remaining American nuclear weapons from German territory as damaging not only to Germany, but to the alliance as a whole.
The authors argue that the proposal was driven more by populist sentiment than any long-term strategic goal. This observation is wrong and misleading. While the Robertson report is based on outdated perceptions, the arguments presented merit a substantive response.
First, it would be a grave mistake for NATO and its members to cling to the Cold War perception of Russia as a potential aggressor and not as a strategic partner with whom we share interests. Security and stability in Europe are only possible with Russia. NATO must live up to the criteria of mutual trust established in the NATO-Russia Founding Act of 1997 if we want Russia to look at NATO and its enlargement not as a threat but as an opportunity. Recent Russian suggestions to take another look at the question of eventual Russian membership show that this opportunity exists....
The likelihood that political leaders in Bejing or Moscow would launch a surprise nuclear attack on the United States and her allies is close to zero. This assessment is also the basis for current efforts to significantly reduce American and Russian strategic nuclear weapons. In this context, sub-strategic nuclear weapons in Europe lose their purpose and should become subject to serious arms control initiatives. Such initiatives have to take into account that the U.S. has several hundred operational nuclear warheads in Europe, compared to much larger numbers of Russian operational warheads for delivery by a variety of land, air and sea-based means....
As the United States and Russia commit themselves to nonproliferation, a proposal by European NATO members to reduce and withdraw tactical nuclear weapons would be an important contribution to broadening this bilateral effort to reduce the number of nuclear weapons in the world.
Read entire article at International Herald Tribune
A recent report by George Robertson, a former secretary general of NATO, and two co-authors, Franklin Miller and Kori Schake, criticizes the German proposal to withdraw the remaining American nuclear weapons from German territory as damaging not only to Germany, but to the alliance as a whole.
The authors argue that the proposal was driven more by populist sentiment than any long-term strategic goal. This observation is wrong and misleading. While the Robertson report is based on outdated perceptions, the arguments presented merit a substantive response.
First, it would be a grave mistake for NATO and its members to cling to the Cold War perception of Russia as a potential aggressor and not as a strategic partner with whom we share interests. Security and stability in Europe are only possible with Russia. NATO must live up to the criteria of mutual trust established in the NATO-Russia Founding Act of 1997 if we want Russia to look at NATO and its enlargement not as a threat but as an opportunity. Recent Russian suggestions to take another look at the question of eventual Russian membership show that this opportunity exists....
The likelihood that political leaders in Bejing or Moscow would launch a surprise nuclear attack on the United States and her allies is close to zero. This assessment is also the basis for current efforts to significantly reduce American and Russian strategic nuclear weapons. In this context, sub-strategic nuclear weapons in Europe lose their purpose and should become subject to serious arms control initiatives. Such initiatives have to take into account that the U.S. has several hundred operational nuclear warheads in Europe, compared to much larger numbers of Russian operational warheads for delivery by a variety of land, air and sea-based means....
As the United States and Russia commit themselves to nonproliferation, a proposal by European NATO members to reduce and withdraw tactical nuclear weapons would be an important contribution to broadening this bilateral effort to reduce the number of nuclear weapons in the world.