111. NATO, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

In the course of its history NATO has often played a role in promoting arms control and non-proliferation. The interaction between the Alliance and the creation of the norms of the global nuclear order, however, has been somewhat controversial, and mostly indirect. NATO has certainly been affected by great power decisions about arms control and non-proliferation, and to a certain extent has also been involved in formulating them. Yet the Alliance as such has never directly negotiated any agreements, and its role has been mostly restricted to serving as a useful forum where Allies could vent their disagreements and forge a common position. The first part of this chapter focuses on the Cold War period, when NATO learned to reconcile its nuclear strategy with the logic of such agreements as the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and the Strategic Armaments Limitation Talks (SALT I and SALT II). It devotes special attention to the Euromissile crisis. The second part analyses the period following the end of the Cold War, when the Alliance faced growing tension between its traditional reliance on nuclear deterrence and the aspirations of some member states to reduce its strategic salience and enhance the Alliance’s role in promoting arms control. A brief conclusion centres on the current crisis in the global nuclear order and its repercussions on the Alliance.