France and the UK Choose the Nuclear Option
Peter Zeihan
4 min
The UK and France are pursuing nuclear weapons to prevent Germany from feeling secure enough to build its own deterrent. Allowing Germany to develop nukes would recreate the dangerous pressure cooker of 19th-century Europe.
Chapters
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0:00
The UK-France Nuclear Drill and European Rearmament
The United Kingdom confirmed completed nuclear weapon delivery drills with France, an event revealed days after the October 20th date. These two nations are the only countries in Europe currently possessing nuclear weapons, though this status may change soon. A broad-scale rearmament is occurring across Europe due to Russian threats and a perceived withdrawal of American support for Ukraine.
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1:21
The Strategic Necessity and Alliance Fragmentation
Europeans feel compelled to build significant military deterrent capabilities because conventional systems take decades to establish industrial capacity. Developing these new capabilities means creating a hybrid military structure radically different from past NATO doctrines. This divergence effectively ends the American alliance as Europeans must develop their own independent doctrine.
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3:10
The Scale of Proliferation and the German Factor
Countries like Sweden, Finland, Poland, and Romania possess the technical capacity to build nuclear weapons using existing power reactors. The UK and France are concerned that Germany will eventually feel secure only with its own nuclear deterrent. Allowing Germany to develop nukes would recreate the dangerous pressure cooker of 19th-century Europe.
Key points
- 0:00
The United Kingdom has confirmed completed nuclear weapon delivery drills with France.
- 0:00
France and the United Kingdom are the only two countries in Europe that have nuclear weapons.
- 0:00
European countries feel they have no choice but to build significant military deterrent capabilities.
- 0:00
Conventional weapon systems can take literally decades to establish the industrial capacity.
- 0:00
Europeans need meaningful results in months to single digits of years.
- 0:00
The American alliance is effectively over because European military structures will be radically different.
- 0:00
Europeans must develop their own doctrine because they cannot match the United States' hybrid military.
- 2:18
Sweden, Finland, Poland, and Romania have the technical capacity to build nuclear weapons themselves.
- 2:18
Power reactors generate plutonium as a waste product which can be separated for weapons use.
- 2:18
Germany is the country the Brits and French are eyeing warily regarding nuclear proliferation.
- 2:18
A nuclear-armed Germany would recreate the dangerous pressure cooker of 19th-century Europe.
On the map
Who and where
Places · 11
- France 4
- Germany 4
- Europe 4
- Russia 3
- Poland 3
- Finland 2
- Romania 2
- United States 2
- Sweden 1
- European Union 1
- Ukraine 1
Organisations · 1
- NATO 1
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