Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
The recent public discussion in Russia on using nuclear weapons against the West was really a discussion about how Moscow can extricate itself from the difficult situation in which it finds itself—and what price it is willing to pay for a victory.
By imagining an attack or even an invasion, Lukashenko is increasing the risks of war coming to Belarus.
Although the geopolitical rationale for the arrangement is understandable, the parties have failed to come to terms with its core problems.
The concept of strategic stability has come under immense pressure in recent years. Nuclear multipolarity, novel technologies, an exacerbating crisis in arms control, and a growing acceptance of “softer” norms are all taking a toll.
The resulting framework may look very different from arms control of the past. But it would be better than a future in which proliferation proceeds in the absence of any shared guardrails for handling the most dangerous weapons in the world.
Canberra should push to alleviate itself of the burden of managing spent fuel while enhancing commitments to nonproliferation.
A conversation about the state of nuclear nonproliferation today, against the backdrop of a proposed resumption of nuclear testing by North Korea and the implied threat of the use of tactical nuclear weapons by Russia in Ukraine.
China views U.S. missile defense as posing a greater potential threat to China’s nuclear deterrent than other U.S. military capabilities.
It is precisely because of, and not in spite of, the fact that Moscow and Pyongyang have repeatedly held their nuclear arsenals over Western heads that leaders should take these threats seriously.
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