Since the Cold War, France has charted an independent course in nuclear policy, without relying on external security guarantees. But what makes France’s nuclear strategy different from that of the United States, United Kingdom or Russia? And how does it fit into the European security architecture today? In this episode of The Arms Control Poseur, host Dr Alexander Bollfrass is joined by leading nuclear policy experts Héloïse Fayet, Emmanuelle Maitre and Dr Liviu Horovitz to discuss France’s nuclear programme that began in the shadows of World War II, as French leaders, including Charles de Gaulle, sought to ensure that the country would never again be left vulnerable to invasion or external political pressure. Unlike the UK, which fully integrated its nuclear programme with the United States, France pursued a self-sufficient approach, developing its own warheads, missiles and delivery systems.

S4.E4: Better know a nuke: France

About The Arms Control Primer

The Arms Control Primer is a regular podcast series run by the International Institute for Strategic Studies on behalf of the European Union Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Consortium (EUNPDC) that unpacks the most pressing arms-control issues, explores the nuclear past, present and future, and discusses measures to combat miscalculation, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems.

The Institutions:
https://www.iiss.org/research/strategy-technology-and-arms-control/
https://www.nonproliferation.eu/