U.S. Allies Reconsider Nuclear Arms as 2026 Strategy Drops Extended Deterrence
Updated
Updated · CNBC · Aug 19
U.S. Allies Reconsider Nuclear Arms as 2026 Strategy Drops Extended Deterrence
3 articles · Updated · CNBC · Aug 19
Summary
Trump’s 2026 National Defense Strategy omitted any explicit U.S. extended-deterrence pledge, deepening allied fears that Washington is becoming less reliable and pushing some governments to revisit whether they need their own nuclear options.
That shift is already showing up in policy moves: France announced its first warhead increase since 1992 and offered a wider European umbrella, while nine countries including Germany and Greece joined Macron’s forward-deterrence initiative.
In Asia and on Russia’s frontier, the U.S. opened talks on South Korean enrichment and reprocessing, Japan has stirred debate over its non-nuclear principles, and Lithuania and Finland are edging toward allowing domestic nuclear deployment.
Analysts warn none of those steps equals a bomb decision yet, but each can trigger adversary reactions, shorten decision times and accelerate regional arms races.
The broader backdrop is a weakening non-proliferation regime: all nine nuclear-armed states are expanding or modernizing arsenals, the U.N.’s May NPT review failed to reach consensus, and Russia and the U.S. still hold about 83% of usable warheads.