France's Nuclear Dilemmas

The article of record as published may be located at http://www.jstor.org/stable/20047471France conducted an underground nuclear test in French Polynesia last September, breaking a three-year-old moratorium on clear weapons testing that had been observed by the other recognized nuclear powers with the exception of China. The test, one of a series France plans to complete before it signs a comprehensive test ban treaty (ctbt) later this year, sparked protests worldwide. Unfortunately, the controversy over the tests has overshadowed France's more fundamental and long-term nuclear dilemmas. The challenges facing France are threefold: maintaining the deterrent under a test ban, giving form to the government's vague proposals for "Eurppeanization," and forging agreement on the extent to which nuclear weapons could be used to deal with the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction