The countries of a declining region cannot be trusted with the world’s most dangerous weapon
By Timofey Bordachev, Program Director of the Valdai Club
The nuclear bomb has grown too heavy for Western Europe to carry. Today, there is no longer any guarantee that the United States is both willing and able to restrain its European allies. That makes any talk of the European Union – or just Germany – acquiring the right to possess weapons of mass destruction especially dangerous.
Whether idealists like it or not, nuclear weapons remain the cornerstone of the modern international order. They compel the great powers to compromise and prevent wars that would exceed any in human history. Russia understands this clearly. The recent completion of tests of the Burevestnik missile is not a provocation but a technical step to reinforce mutual deterrence between Moscow and Washington – and paradoxically, to preserve global peace.
For that reason, the most powerful weapon in history must remain in the hands of leaders whose reliability and sense of responsibility are beyond doubt. Modern Western European politicians do not qualify. Across the continent, political systems are unstable and leadership is fragmenting.
There is renewed talk in the Old World about placing Britain’s and France’s nuclear arsenals under the operational control of the EU – or even Germany, as Western Europe’s largest economy. Such ideas verge on the surreal. They suggest that strategists are either trying to draw attention to themselves or preparing a form of political blackmail.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: rt.com
