Deterrence and Reassurance
In meetings over the past few weeks, I have heard repeated references to the wonderful 1983 essay Deterrence and Reassurance by the late Michael Howard. Point of fact — Sir Michael Howard is not dead. But with the way in…
Bombspotting: US nuclear weapons in Europe
The B61 bombs still stored at European air bases, and the activists, leaked cables and blurred satellite images that keep revealing how they are guarded.
11 posts
Official: Ankara Doesn't Need NATO Nukes
I attended an interesting meeting today that Flynt Leverett hosted with two high-powered Turkish officials from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) — Ibrahim Kalin, chief foreign policy adviser to the Prime Minister, and a Suat Kiniklioglu, a Turkish…
Activists Breach Security at Kleine Brogel
Holy crap. If you watch this video on YouTube it is very clear that a group of Belgian peace activists not only got inside the wire at Kleine-Brogel Airbase — where some US nuclear weapons may be stored — but…
Yes, It's the Other Area
Oh, shut up already! Some enterprising Belgian military spokesperson has decided to announce to the entire world that of the two sets of 11 hardened shelters at Kleine Brogel Airbase, the activists were in the one without nuclear weapons: A…
Another Kleine Brogel Bombspotting
So, I got a little note the other day from the Bombspotters: After we noticed our January filmed visit of Kleine Brogel airbase caused some interesting discussions, we have put some effort in a more extensive investigation. To our surprise…
Release the Hounds!
If the commander at Kleine Brogel Air Base in Belgium were to go all Mr. Burns on the Peace Action “bomb spotters” — nothing would happen. That’s because, as I pointed out to Elaine Grossman in her excellent story on…
NATO Nukes
The first “revelation” from the Wikileaks cache is something we already knew — that there are US nuclear weapons stored in Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and Turkey — at least, as of November 2009.
180 NATO Nukes
I kind of figured that the Wikileaks cables would reveal a lot about so-called tactical nuclear weapons — like how many the US has in Europe or the current US estimates of the Russian stockpile. One cable, drafted by Ivo…
Security Lapse at Volkel
A few disarmament posters by Robert Wout, better known as Opland. Many of my colleagues are attending the 2014 Nuclear Security Summit in Amsterdam, Netherlands. (My friend @MilesPomper is tweeting up a storm for #NSS2014.) It is normal for the assembled heads of government…
An Expensive Burden: Nuclear Weapons in Europe
Are NATO based nuclear weapons an advantage in a dangerous world? Or are they an expensive and obsolete weapon that undermine NATO burden sharing? Is NATO divided about US nuclear weapons in Europe? Are the weapons secure? Are Euro-Hippies a…
Tailkits and the Turks: US Nuclear Weapons in Turkey
The New York Times reported recently that US officials are considering removing US nuclear weapons from Turkey. Aaron knows a bit about this, so Jeffrey called in from his car on the road to San Francisco, and Anne called in…