NATO discusses WMD

By Rachel Staley, program support officer, British American Security Information Council (BASIC)

This article was first published on 11 June and is reproduced with the permission of BASIC  

A few weeks after the NATO Summit in Chicago, NATO member states meet again in Budapest at a Conference on Weapons of Mass Destruction, Arms Control, Disarmament, and Non-proliferation on Thursday and Friday of this week. NATO leaders in Chicago focused on Afghanistan, Smart Defence, and partnership and have since voiced their satisfaction with the summit’s outcome. However, their attempts to update NATO’s nuclear policies were disappointing, apparently unable to find the consensus necessary to remove Cold War legacies, with worrying implications for member states’ authority in leading non-proliferation efforts elsewhere.
 
The previous NATO WMD conference, held in Bergen in 2011, involved 100 senior officials from NATO and partner countries, international organizations and academic institutions. It provides a unique opportunity for non-member states and civil society to participate in an informal discussion on WMD threats, non-proliferation, and disarmament efforts with NATO officials. This is also a good opportunity for NATO to consider strategies left up in the air by the Chicago summit, notably how NATO will effectively engage with non-proliferation, the next round of arms control with the Russians, and what to do with the U.S. tactical nuclear weapons in Europe. NATO faces a complex emerging proliferation landscape that includes threats of nuclear and other WMD terrorism. It is important that the Alliance engages with the wider international community on its multilateral disarmament strategies alongside its non-proliferation initiatives.