Gradual phasing-out of nuclear weapons. The countries which have, and command, nuclear weapons are increasingly coordinated amongst themselves and apply rules which they have set for themselves, foremost amongst which is the gradual reduction of their arsenals. The very existence of humanity is at stake. The five countries which have them (the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France and China) are increasingly committed to getting rid of them altogether. Since the start of 2011, the United States and Russia set the pace, in the bilateral START treaty, for the reduction of their nuclear weapons, which are by far the most powerful in the world. Last year, the Americans announced their detailed programme for the gradual dismantling of the numbers of the nuclear warheads and launchers between now and 2018.
Obviously, this phasing-out programme presupposes that no third country gets hold of these weapons. This is the main objective of the endless negotiations with Iran.
Historical reminder. It should not be forgotten that discovering the possibility of building nuclear weapons pre-dated World War II by quite some time. The great geniuses in the world of physics understood that their discoveries could be used to serve military ends. However, they wanted to prevent their discoveries from being used in anger, to make it impossible for the devastating weapon, the existence of which they understood in theory, to become reality.
The story of Italy's Ettore Majorana was the best known and, in many ways, the most dramatic; having understood, well before the Second World War (he probably died in 1938), the possible effects of nuclear fusion, he refused to continue his work and vanished for good. Did he throw himself into the sea on his last voyage in the south of Italy, as he himself seemed to want to indicate? Or did he retire to a monastery? We will never know. What is certain is that he was determined to disappear, following his long discussions in Germany with Werner Karl Heisenberg about what they had discovered. Heisenberg managed to avoid informing Hitler of this, deciding instead to continue his work and his studies in the United States, with no way of knowing that President Truman would end up using the nuclear bomb to lay waste to Japan.
Current requirements. This summary is, of course, by no means historically exhaustive; I just wanted to stress the absolute need to make sure that nuclear weapons do not one day fall into the hands of, for example, those vile monsters who now call themselves Daesh, whose sole objective is to grow rich on oil, kidnapping, ransoms and murder. I will return to the great Islamic civilisation of the past, its knowledge and discoveries, its open-mindedness.
There must be no let-up in the rigour of the talks with Teheran to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weaponry. As we know, the EU countries which have nuclear weapons are involved in these talks, alongside the US, Russia and also Germany (P5+1). Additionally, Russia/United States cooperation continues to take many forms, for example in the conquest of space.
Significant boost to EU-Russia cooperation. The prospect of an end to European sanctions and Russian reprisals continues to make progress.
In Brussels on Friday 20 March, the German Marshall Fund of the United States held a debate on relations between Russia, Europe and the USA, which was attended by Ms Mogherini, Mr Stoltenberg and senior Russian and American officials. Our publication EDD reported on the content of the meeting. Many took position in favour of resuming confidence and cooperation. Ms Mogherini, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Policy, stressed that today, we absolutely need to work with Moscow, because Russia is a vital partner in areas which are important to Europe, and that besides, “we and Russia share the same security threats, such as those related to terrorism, destabilisation around the Mediterranean, the Middle East and Afghanistan”.
It is true that others who took the floor during the debate held back a little more, even openly expressed misgivings; there was no lack of criticism levelled at Russia and Victoria Nuland, American under-secretary of state for Europe and Eurasia, stressed that it was still hard to return to confidence with Moscow. On behalf of Russia, Mr Konstantin Kosachev hit out at NATO's attitude, saying: “whatever happens, Russia will survive, whether or not the sanctions against it are extended”. The differences of opinion over NATO are showing no signs of being resolved any time soon…
It's just a shame that the Russians and the Americans are still laying too much emphasis on the differences. We need to hope that Ms Mogherini's attitude will be more representative in the future. (FR)