1、2025/6/18 10:45Should Europeans develop an independent nuclear deterrent?https:/www.brookings.edu/articles/should-europeans-develop-an-independent-nuclear-deterrent/1/10TEditors note:This paper was written for a May 14 Center on the United States andEurope virtual workshop on“A new vision for Europe
2、an defense strategy?”as part ofBrookingssReimagining Europes security(https:/www.brookings.edu/collection/reimagining-europes-security/)project,alongwith Thomas Wrights“How can Europe defend Ukraine?(https:/www.brookings.edu/articles/how-can-europe-defend-ukraine/)”and SophiaBeschs“How must Europe r
3、eorganize its conventional defense?(https:/www.brookings.edu/articles/how-must-europe-reorganize-its-conventional-defense/)”wo external shocks have fundamentally changed the way Europeans viewnuclear deterrence.First,Russias full-scale invasion in 2022 heightened thethreat perception in Europe,there
4、by increasing the need for defense anddeterrence.The past three years showed that nuclear deterrence seeminglyworked in two ways:It protected NATOa nuclear alliance backstopped by U.S.military preeminencebecause Russia has refrained from military escalation,but italso protected Russia because it ens