Oliver Thränert on the new US defence strategy in Europe

The US government wants to replace offensive nuclear weapons with a missile defence shield. The plans provide a modern substitute for the US nuclear presence in Europe, writes Oliver Thränert, an arms policy expert at the Science and Politics Foundation in Berlin, in the left-liberal Süddeutsche Zeitung: "On the one hand it would mean Washington continues to be bound to Europe through a major military project. This would soothe the fears of many new Nato countries. And because it is an alliance project America's partners also have the right to a say in decisions. ... But it is worthwhile above all from a military point of view to invest in defence projects rather than in nuclear offensive weapons. For if it does come to a conflict with a nuclear-armed Iran - and this is likely to be one of the challenges for Nato in the coming years - the alliance and Europe would do well to ensure they have means of damage limitation at their disposal. To rely solely on nuclear deterrence in such a case would not be advisable anyway."

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