The US withdrawal from the INF treaty and its impacts on Europe and the Atlantic Alliance

[Autom. eng. transl.] The US decision to withdraw from the 1987 treaty on intermediate-range missiles (INF treaty) calls into question a consolidated status quo and brings back delicate issues related to the role played by nuclear weapons in guaranteeing Euro-Atlantic security and stability of the international system. In fact, the process initiated by the Washington decision does not only affect the framework of the United States-Russia relations - within which it has moved - but risks having global repercussions, on the one hand calling into question the role of the People's Republic Chinese (still not willing to get involved in agreements that would bind its autonomy of action), on the other questioning the entire system of limitation of strategic weapons, starting from the so-called "New START Treaty", the possible renewal of which - scheduled for February 2021 - has already become the subject of contention. The US and Russian options for the renewal and modernization of the current arsenals are placed against the background of the debate, also being welded, in the case of Washington, to the administration's willingness to support the national industry and to the involvement in the various programs of all great players in the Defense sector. Finally, the role of NATO and Europe is central; the first which, while supporting the US position and charging Moscow with the "sole responsibility" for the failure of the INF treaty, said it wished to respond "in a measured and responsible manner" to the possible consequences, the second which, on the other hand, seems to be struggling to to accept the idea that, after a long time, the nuclear issue has once again returned to occupying a “weighty” place on the international agenda.