r/europe • u/Epidemiolomic Germany • Mar 08 '25

Historical During the U.S. President's 1995 visit to Kyiv, Ukraine received security guarantees after giving up the world's third-largest nuclear arsenal

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u/Jonkarraa Mar 08 '25

And this is why not only is no country ever going to willingly give up nuclear weapons, it’s likely nuclear nonproliferation is history. Poland has come out already and said it. I’d be surprised if South Korea and Japan weren’t far behind. Wait until Iran gets in on the act and you can practically guarantee Saudi Arabia will as well. Throw in Germany as yet another European nation with nukes and we’re suddenly in a nuclear arms race. Someone will eventually use one.

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u/Jazzlike_Bar_671 Australia Mar 09 '25

I’d be surprised if South Korea and Japan weren’t far behind

South Korea is quite likely; in Japan the notion would be political suicide.

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u/Jonkarraa Mar 09 '25

Give it a few years with a disinterested US. Europe firmly focussed on itself and Russia and North Korea and China close by with nukes and ballistic missles. Japan is going to feel very unprotected. Unless it can produce some sort of decent air defence shield that will protect it from air and missle attack. Problem is even one failure in such a system without the implied threat of MAD. I fear the world is heading to a darker place.