Trident and British Identity: Letting go of Nuclear Weapons
Dr. Nick Ritchie, September 2008
This report asks why did the Labour government decide to replace Trident?
One of the most important and least examined issues is identity and the role of nuclear weapons in perceptions of Britain’s self-identity and its role in the world.
This research paper picks apart the key dimensions of the political and defence establishment’s identity that generate a ‘national interest’ in deploying nuclear weapons and made the Trident replacement decision possible. It says:
1. Nuclear weapons are perceived to underpin Britain’s core self-identity as a major ‘pivotal’ power with a special responsibility for maintaining international order.
2. The association between being a major power and possession of nuclear weapons remains strong and that makes thinking about being a non-nuclear weapon state very difficult.
3. Being America’s closest ally is crucial to the defence establishment’s identity. Possession of nuclear weapons is perceived to enable Britain to maintain political and military credibility in Washington and gain access to the highest levels of policy-making.
4. Britain sees itself as a responsible and leading defender of Europe and cannot conceive of leaving ‘irresponsible’ France as Europe’s sole nuclear weapon state.
5. New Labour’s identity and perception of political integrity dictates that it must be strong on defence, and that includes supporting Trident and Britain’s status as a nuclear power.
6. Possession of nuclear weapons is underpinned by a powerful masculine identity with nuclear weapons associated with ideas of virility, strength, autonomy and rationality. Nuclear disarmament is denigrated as weakness, irrationality, subordination and emasculation. This places a straitjacket on what is considered appropriate and inappropriate for behaviour for Britain.
Transforming identity: The report concludes that if Britain is to relinquish its nuclear arsenal these identities will have to be transformed and a ‘non-nuclear’ identity will have to be accepted and institutionalised in a way that does not undermine the fundamental tenets of these core identities.
Such aTransforming identity: The report concludes that if Britain is to relinquish its nuclear arsenal these identities will have to be transformed and a ‘non-nuclear’ identity will have to be accepted and institutionalised in a way that does not undermine the fundamental tenets of these core identities.
Such a transformation is inherently possible, particularly given the absence of consensus within the electorate on whether Britain should remain a nuclear weapon state.
particularly given the absence of consensus within the electorate on whether Britain should remain a nuclear weapon state.
Download the report here
Dr. Nick Ritchie
Department of Peace Studies
University of Bradford
Bradford UK
BD7 1DP
Email: n.ritchie@bradford.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1274 236860
