FRANCE AND THE UNITED KINGDOM: FACTORS INFLUENCING POSITIONS ON MULTILATERAL NUCLEAR ARMS CONTROL

Following the demise of several critical U.S.-Russian bilateral treaties, the world now faces the most consequential nuclear arms-control crisis in decades. If the desired end goal is to move toward global disarmament, France and the U.K. have several economic, political, and military avenues they could pursue. This thesis analyzes British and French positions on nuclear arms-control and seeks to identify what has precluded them from entering into meaningful discussions. This thesis considers nuclear policies, statistics, official records, publications, and previous case studies on third-party arms control. At this time, there is little optimism for France and the U.K. to have a significant impact on multilateral arms-control negotiations. There are many geopolitical, economic, and security dilemmas that are currently hindering a breakthrough in negotiations, and a disparity in the number of nuclear weapons possessed between the U.S. and Russia and all other nuclear weapons states is an impasse that hinders European nuclear weapon states. Additionally, there is a strong sense of nuclear nationalism inherent to both nations that precludes them from initiating disarmament measures. Achieving meaningful multilateral arms control must begin with small, mutually reinforcing, and incremental measures. Promoting a multilateral forum to increase transparency and build confidence would set the stage for more ambitious and meaningful multilateral measures in the future.Outstanding ThesisLieutenant, United States NavyApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited