Curated expert opinion on intractable contemporary issues

Global Outlook Articles by Tom Sauer

Tom Sauer is a professor in international politics at the Universiteit Antwerpen in Belgium where he teaches courses on international relations, security, and arms control, and a former fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. He received the 2019 Rotary International Alumni Global Service Award. He is the co-author (with Paul Meyer) of ‘The Nuclear Ban Treaty: A Sign of Global Impatience’, in: Survival, 60 (2), 2018, pp.61-72; as well as the co-editor (with Brecht Volders) of Nuclear Terrorism: Countering the Threat (Routledge, 2016).

Banning Nuclear Weapons: A Role for Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium?

By Moritz Kütt, Jan Hoekema and Tom Sauer  |  28 February, 2021

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons should be seen in Western Europe as a signal by the rest of the world to take the promise of nuclear elimination much more seriously. Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany should work together to get rid of the American nuclear weapons on our soil, and sign the Ban Treaty as soon as politically possible.

NATO Allies, Don’t Dismiss the TPNW

By Tom Sauer  |  13 February, 2021

The entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) on 22 January 2021 yields strong and mixed emotions. Advocates expect an acceleration of the climb to the summit of Mountain Global Zero. Opponents repeat that the nuclear-armed states will never sign the Treaty. If the nuclear-armed states are not willing to ban nuclear weapons, though, the odds are that others will not believe their promises to eliminate nuclear weapons, as required by the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT). That does not bode well for the NPT, the “cornerstone” of the nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament regime.

The views and opinions expressed in Global Outlook are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Toda Peace Institute.