Under the Nuclear Umbrella

In the forthcoming CFR report on nuclear weapons policy, there's a mention of the U.S. nuclear umbrella:

The United States has the responsibility to assure allies through extended deterrence commitments. This assurance helps convince many of these allies to not acquire their own nuclear weapons, thereby improving the nonproliferation system.

To date, these "extended deterrent" commitments extend to Asian and European allies. During the CFR media call, I asked Charles Ferguson and Brent Scowcroft whether they believed the U.S. should offer such a commitment to the Gulf states in the event that Iran acquires a nuclear weapon. Scowcroft noted that any first step would have to focus on persuading the Iranians that acquiring a nuclear weapon "was not in their own interests" before discussions turned to our nuclear umbrella. Although, he said, "that would certainly have to be considered" if Iran went nuclear.

Ferguson added that America's ability to reassure and support allies went beyond nuclear deterrence and included "political and conventional military support" as well.

The bottom line seemed to be that no one wants to concede a nuclear Iran just yet.