this post was submitted on 24 Mar 2025
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Germany is at a crossroads when it comes to its security policy β€” one of the deepest upheavals of the post-War era.

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[–] zqps@sh.itjust.works 13 points 7 hours ago

Hoffentlich bauen die Schwaben nie eine Atombombe, weil irgendein MinischderprΓ€sident wΓΌrde sagen "Etz ham mer se bezahlt, etz werf mer se au ab".

[–] riodoro1@lemmy.world 3 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

Guys, have a kid, buy a house. Smile on your faces. Everything is going to be good.

You need to feel like you have something for them to be able to rip it away.

[–] Suoko@feddit.it 1 points 12 hours ago

Drop it ! Wherever it's dropped is probably fine now

[–] Kissaki@feddit.org 11 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago) (2 children)

The article advocates/answers with infrastructure should be prepared so it can be purposed if it should ever be necessary.

There is, however, a third option: nuclear hedging. In this model, a country does not develop nuclear weapons outright but instead builds the technological capacity to produce them if ever deemed necessary.

Most of the comments here seem to discuss the headline instead - whether it should equip.

[–] Melchior@feddit.org 5 points 11 hours ago

Germany maintains the uranium enrichment plant and a the ability to turn that into nuclear fuel. That is what is needed to build a simple uranium based nuclear weapon.

That is why Germany set up nuclear power plants, as they were always meant to finance and develop those facilities. Since they are now esteblished there is no reason to keep the power plants around. They are of the wrong type anyway, as they produce very little plutonium, which is the other way of producing nuclear weapons. However Germany still has quite a few institutions being able to built nuclear reactors, if need be.

That is also why Germany was fine with US nuclear weapons. Nobody wanted to see Germany have nukes themself, but Germany. Hence that deal. However Germany always had very detailed plans to built nukes, if need be. We are talking about having nukes within a few months, if really pushed hard.

[–] poVoq@slrpnk.net 4 points 20 hours ago

This is what Germany has been doing for decades with its civil nuclear program, but it turned out to be an prohibitively expensive bondoggle and all the nuclear plants have been shut down now.

[–] cows_are_underrated@feddit.org 109 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (6 children)

I just want to point out, that we are really talking about building nukes again in 2025.

[–] BestBouclettes@jlai.lu 41 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Well, I'm not a big fan of nuclear proliferation but Ukraine gave up theirs and look what happened...
As long as we have imperialistic authoritarian world leaders, we will need ways to keep them at bay, and nuclear deterrence is probably the best one unfortunately...

[–] Kissaki@feddit.org 5 points 22 hours ago (3 children)

I wonder if Putin would have bet on them not being used and attacked anyway.

Just like Putin has not used any nuke, there's a huge deterrent to use them at all.

I could definitely see Putin making calculated decisions like that.

Of course Ukraine would have had a stronger stand with them either way.

[–] KinglyWeevil@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

There was a sincere risk of Russia using nuclear weapons earlier in the conflict, around the winter of 2022/2023 when the first major Russian mobilization of 600k failed to achieve the desired outcomes and the North Western front started to collapse. The released intelligence info put it at about 50/50.

This is why, at the time, the Biden administration made several clearly coded messages/announcements that nuclear weapons usage in Ukraine would result in an overwhelming conventional retaliation that would remove Russian military capability from the board. It's also part of the reason nations were so slow to provide advanced support capabilities. There was a fear (justified, imo) that immediately opening the floodgates and giving Ukraine tanks, jets, advanced missiles, and using those missiles to strike deep in Russian territory would result in usage of nuclear weapons. It still is a risk, honestly. If Ukraine started doing heavy damage to Moscow, there's a real chance Putin might decide to flip the table over rather than lose the game.

[–] Kissaki@feddit.org 1 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

I must have missed that back then. Thank you for the context.

[–] KinglyWeevil@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 19 minutes ago

For sure, it wasn't super widely reported at the time. Nuclear weapons and foreign policy just happen to be "special interests" for me so I tend to follow things like that.

[–] vrojak@feddit.org 2 points 9 hours ago

I would expect the blowback for using nukes in defense of your sovereign territory to be a lot less than for conquering another country.

[–] MaggiWuerze@feddit.org 1 points 12 hours ago

But you can also see the hesitance from european leaders due to his nukes

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[–] thanksforallthefish@literature.cafe 69 points 1 day ago (24 children)

Yes. The Budapest memo and the US strategic backflip has proved non nuclear powers are deeply at risk.

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[–] NoxAstrum@lemmy.ca 13 points 1 day ago (2 children)

They just had an election where the second most popular party was an extreme-right-wing pack of lunatics. What happens when they win the next election?

You cannot afford to have nuclear weapons when you can't be sure who's going to have control of them.

[–] wisely@feddit.org 10 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago) (1 children)

This logic assumes that the AFD wouldn't themselves obtain nukes upon coming to power, joining other dictatorships that have them.

At some point you have to wonder how democracy would stand globally if only those who oppose democracy have deterrence.

[–] Kissaki@feddit.org 5 points 22 hours ago

If Putin and the USA already have them, isn't that hypothetical too far off when assessing risk?

There's a strong counter movement to the right. I'd rather have a strong deterrent against Putin than not. It's pretty obvious to me what the more immediate and more realistic risk is.

[–] inlandempire@jlai.lu 35 points 1 day ago (7 children)

Everyone seems so willing to break the Non Proliferation Treaty nowadays, it's scary

[–] remon@ani.social 51 points 1 day ago

Non proliferation was possible because of nuclear security guarantees by the US. Those are now worthless.

[–] freebee@sh.itjust.works 39 points 1 day ago

Pandora's box is open. Thanks Putin. Thanks Trump. EU can't do nothing... We're heading to more war and disorder either way. Not only more new nukes, also higher chances of them being used again which is even more scary.

[–] Melchior@feddit.org 24 points 1 day ago (2 children)

No need to break it. The treaty can be left within 90 days after giving a notice with a reason. Given that building nuclear weapons takes some time, that seems very possible.

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[–] Quittenbrot@feddit.org 20 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Everyone seems so willing to break the Non Proliferation Treaty nowadays, it’s scary

Non-Proliferation is based on the promise of nuclear powers to defend those who don't have nukes. Since this promise is out of the window thanks to Trump, proliferation is the logical consequence.

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[–] Obelix@feddit.org 16 points 1 day ago (9 children)

I really would like that everybody who is proposing a german nuclear bomb would also explain where Germany should test its new bomb. Bavaria? Mecklenburg? Erzgebirge?

[–] AAA@feddit.org 1 points 1 hour ago

Even untested ones would act as a deterrence. Not to the same effect, but almost.

[–] horse@feddit.org 2 points 10 hours ago

I propose Saxony /s

[–] Adderbox76@lemmy.ca 15 points 1 day ago

explain where Germany should test its new bomb

Mar-a-Lago

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