The research project The Bureaucratic Politics of Nuclear Alliance Management explores how nuclear policy decisions are shaped within NATO, with a special focus on the role of sub-state actors. It aims to answer two key questions: First, it examines how the interests of NATO allies are integrated into U.S. nuclear policymaking. Second, it explores how bureaucratic actors within the United States and its global network of allies collaborate to advance their interests in the nuclear sphere. The project features case studies on the UK, France, Norway, and Germany.
The German case study, led by IFSH researcher Franziska Stärk, explores the origins and governmental processes behind the Westerwelle Initiative. This 2009/2010 effort by the German government, spearheaded by Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, aimed to remove U.S. non-strategic nuclear weapons from Germany—an initiative that ultimately proved unsuccessful.
This two year project is funded by the Carnegie Corporationof New York and conducted in partnership with Sciences Po Paris, the University of Denver, and the Norwegian Seismic Array (NORSAR).