une dissuasion puissante

With the United States and Russia getting into a more in depth discussions over nuclear weapons (trying not to sound cynical but I somehow doubt they will get anywhere anytime soon) one cannot help but to notice France launching a new ballistic nuclear submarine the Terrible just over a year ago.

Things are changing for France but one thing they don't want to seem to let down is their nuclear deterrent which today is pretty strong considering the Cold War really ended twenty years ago!

Yet times are changing, the French pulled out of NATO in the 1950's to form an independent military, five years afterwords they detonated a nuclear bomb four times more powerful than the one used on Hiroshima in Algeria, it was around that time France obtained its nuclear deterrent which was of great joy of the president of the time, Charles de Gaulle.

But times have changed.

The Soviets are gone and the there is no direct threat on any of Frances borders, France rejoined NATO a few months after remaining militarily independent throughout most of the Cold War, now meaning that three nuclear powers are in NATO an organization of nations that aren't under much of a threat these days.



The French have obviously acknowledged this since they're plane-based nuclear arsenal is being decreased (which currently consists of 60 TN-81 warheads) by a third (i.e. 20 warheads), thus bringing the total French nuclear arsenal to less than 300 warheads.

But the good old nuclear ballistic missile submarines are still on the high seas.



While this isn't a bad thing and pointing the finger at the French for still having nuclear submarines would be hypocritical considering the island nation of Great Britain just across the Channel possesses just as many.

That being said Gordon Brown is proposing cutting the Trident missile submarine fleet showing the right attitude, while France only launched the Le Terrible a year ago France is at a crossroads whether to use its nuclear ability to promote peace or influence its national interests.