I grew up in the 1970s and came of political age in the early 1980s. Had you told me then that the European Left would one day demand more nuclear weapons, I would have laughed my 99 Luftballons off.
At that time, the US and European Left proclaimed Ronald Reagan a warmonger for deploying 572 Pershing II nuclear missiles in then-West Germany and the UK to counter the Soviet Union's SS-20 missiles that had already been deployed:
President Reagan's plan to deploy 572 intermediate range missiles in Western Europe should be delayed a year to allow serious disarrmament negotiations with the Soviets on both intermediate and strategic missiles, the Center for Defensee Informatiion said Tuesday.
'Once the Pershing II and Cruise missiles are deployed into Great Britain and West Germany this December, arms control in Europe will become all but impossible,' the liberal-oriented Center, which is highly critical of Reagan's defense policies, said in a report.
Pershing II is a two-stage, mobile ballistic missile with a range of about 1,130 miles at supersonic speeds. It carries a 10 kiloton to 20 kiloton nuclear warhead.
The ground-launched cruise missile is a pilotless, subsonic weapon with a range of 1,500 miles and a variable nuclear payload ranging from 15 kilotons to 50 kilotons.
This set fire to the "No Nukes" protest movement on the Left, both in Europe and in the US. Until the USSR collapsed under the weight of the arms race, Chernobyl, and the built-in economic and political failures of communism, the Left shrieked over Reagan's decision to pursue peace through strength.
That was then, however. This is now, when France – of all nations – has suddenly discovered the Reagan Doctrine and the necessity of numerical deterrence:
NOW - Macron orders the increase of nuclear warheads in France’s arsenal, declaring that France will no longer disclose the size of its nuclear stockpile. pic.twitter.com/wQLrHSnK3U
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) March 2, 2026
In order to be free, therefore, we must be feared. In order to be feared, we have to be powerful. This increase in our arsenel reflects that.
It's worth noting that France is the only EU state with its own nuclear arsenal. (The UK has its own arsenal but left the EU in the Brexit agreement.) That won't last long, however. The Associated Press reports that Germany is now interested in deterrence, which again is remarkable considering the outcry forty-three years ago:
Some European nations have already taken up an offer Macron made last year to discuss France’s nuclear deterrence and even associate European partners in nuclear exercises.
Earlier this month, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he’d had “initial talks” with Macron on the issue and had publicly theorized about German Air Force planes possibly being used to carry French nuclear bombs.
France and Britain also adopted a joint declaration in July that allows both nations’ nuclear forces, while independent, to be “coordinated.” The U.K., no longer an EU member but a NATO ally, is the only other European country with a nuclear deterrent.
A deterrent, eh? A deterrent for whom? The same potential threat that Reagan addressed in 1983. The EU faces nuclear extortion from Russia – again – but this time has to worry about whether the US will back them up. European nations spent decades ignoring their own duty to contribute to the common defense, and their demands for an American response to Russia's aggression at this late stage are not landing with sympathy in Trump's White House. Their refusal to fully back Trump's play on Iran likely has them even more concerned about reciprocity in the weeks and months ahead, although France and the UK belatedly decided to get into action when Iran began dropping missiles indiscriminately all over the Middle East.
Not only will France produce more nuclear weapons, they plan to make them mobile across Europe as well:
The talks, which Macron said also include Denmark, Sweden, Belgium and Greece, could also lead to allies supporting France’s nuclear arsenal with their conventional forces, and to France temporarily deploying its nuclear-armed jet fighters on allied territory, he added.
“This dispersal across Europe, like an archipelago of power, will complicate our adversaries’ calculus,” Macron said while standing in front of a French nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarine at France’s Île Longue base off the Brittany coast.
Suddenly, strength is in, and the Left loves nukes. C'est le matin en Europe.
For those too young to recall the political winds of the Left in the 1980s, here's the hit 1984 "No Nukes" song from German recording artist Nena, a hit in English as well as in the original German. It's a great dance tune, albeit a little synth-pop heavy where it should be a guitar-driven rocker, but still serviceable for the club scene. The message, which was lame enough at the time, has clearly expired now.
