ABSTRACT
The end of the Cold War led West Europeans to focus on political and economic integration, including foreign and defence policy. Many concrete steps have been taken, such as the formation of the common foreign and security policy and of the Eurocorps. However, one area which has not been drawn fully into this europeanisation of Western European security has been nuclear deterrence. Rather like the debates over the future of a common currency, nuclear forces have seemed to be at the heart of the debate over sovereignty. Yet, unlike debates over currencies, there have been no concrete proposals for the creation of a common nuclear deterrent.1
