Nuclear Sharing: Cold War Relic and European Insecurity

NATO nuclear sharing arrangements are exceptional: the United States currently is the only country to station nuclear weapons outside its own territory and NATO is the only self-proclaimed nuclear alliance. While such hosting arrangements in general predate both the cold war and the Non-Proliferation Treaty, today’s sharing arrangements and their incompatibility with treaties and norms are highly criticized.

Opinion polls in the respective five countries have consistently shown a majority in favor of withdrawal. Many other states have criticized the practice while others might use it as a template. Forward-deployed nuclear weapons in Europe make the continent vulnerable and serve no military purpose.

In this session, we will explore the concept and history of nuclear sharing, and how civil society works for the removal of U.S. weapons of mass destruction from their territories.

Speakers:

Maren Vieluf

Maren Vieluf is a Policy Consultant with ICAN.

Francesco Vignarca

Francesco Vignarca is Campaigns Coordinator for the recently established Rete Italiana Pace e Disarmo.

Alejandra Muñoz

Alejandra Muñoz is a Project Officer at Dutch peace organization PAX, where she is currently leading the Don’t Bank on the Bomb research, a joint publication of PAX and ICAN.

Emmelien Lievens

Emmelien Lievens is coordinator of the Belgian peace movement Vrede vzw, which is part of the Belgian coalition against nuclear weapons.