Case Five: Nuclear Abolition and Arms Reductions – Stakes and Risks for NATO

An international tsunami of expert and lay opinion in favor of abolishing nuclear weapons has combined with the arrival in January 2009 of a new US president anxious to accelerate Russian–American nuclear arms reductions. These are potentially fortuitous developments for international peace and security – but in the “real world” of policy making, they do not translate automatically into accomplishments. States, alliances, defense and foreign ministries, nuclear weapons development complexes, and other domestic and international actors will have a “vote” in the point-counterpoint between advocates of nuclear abstinence and nuclear deterrence.