Nuclear Deterrence or Britain and France have Dignity of their Own

... infrastructure in Europe would be the first on the Soviet attack list. According to French strategists, the removal of NATO infrastructure by itself was hardly enough to make the country secure in the midst of the Cold War. Only possession of an effective nuclear deterrent would offer the chance to remain neutral (if necessary) if a European war broke out. The French developed the concept of containing the stronger by the weaker through dissuasion, which meant that France could evade an attack by threatening ...