Europeans Fighting Proliferation: The Test-Case of Iran

The EU was driven by the Iraq experience to produce its own strategy against WMD proliferation, and induced by the USA's implied threats against Iran to seek a non-violent solution to concerns about the latter's nuclear programme. EU-Iran negotiations have to date not solved the problem, for reasons that include the EU's own internal divisions of authority and its weakness in terms of leverage: but they continue to hold the stage and have at least won time. The EU would do well meanwhile to consider investing more in parts of its WMD strategy that are lower-risk and more under its own control, such as sharing export control expertise and funding safe destruction programmes.