Becoming a Robust Bridge Builder: Why Germany Should Adjust its Role in Nuclear Disarmament in the Wake of the 2015 Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference

Abstract

At the 2015 Review Conference of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (April 27 to May 22), an increasing number of Non-Nuclear-Weapon States (NNWS) were frustrated with the slow nuclear disarmament process and insisted on more progressive steps. Germany, apparently unimpressed by this new climate, stuck to its established role of reserved bridge builder. This led progressive NNWS like Austria and others to depreciate the country as a disarmament partner, which in turn rendered Germany less effective in promoting some of its own major interests. This paper argues that Germany should redefine its role in nuclear disarmament and evolve into a robust bridge builder. This would allow it to advance its core national objectives in the nuclear disarmament field more comprehensively and strengthen the Nonproliferation Treaty.