French President Nicolas Sarkozy has made a clear commitment to retain a reduced but modernized strategic nuclear force, and presented an 8-point disarmament plan to the international community focused on reduced numbers and alert status, a fissile material cut-off, a test ban and greater transparency. He outlined the steps in his first speech on French nuclear deterrence policy, when launching the fourth new nuclear ballistic missile submarine Le Terrible(translated as "The Fearsome") on March 21, 2008.
He confirmed the French attachment to the policy of nuclear deterrence, describing it has the nation's life insurance policy, and a contribution to European security in the face of the looming threat of a nuclear-armed Iran. At the same time, he announced a unilateral reduction in the arsenal to less than 300 warheads, saying that this reflected a decline in the risks and the threats France faces. He also presented an eight-point multilateral nuclear disarmament plan for discussion between the nuclear weapon states. This comes at a time of high-paced modernization in all elements of the French nuclear arsenal, the largest in Europe and the fourth in the world.
Retrouvez l'intégralité de cet article sur le site du BASIC (British American Security Information Council) : Jean-Marie COLLIN, «Sarkozy and the French nuclear deterrence», BASIC-Getting to Zero Paper, n°2, 15 July 2008.
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