10/03/2022

We Need to Talk About Nuclear Weapons Again

Reuters

Fifteen years ago, US statesmen Henry Kissinger, Sam Nunn, William Perry and George Shultz warned that nuclear deterrence was becoming increasingly dangerous and ineffective, bringing with it a risk of unintentional use of nuclear weapons. This prescient warning was made well before the eruption of war in Ukraine and the lowering of Russia's threshold for its use of nuclear weapons.

Russian nuclear forces have been on high alert from the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine. According to our senior researcher Azriel Bermant, at this stage, the West is not ready for the talk about nuclear weapons with Russia.

Compared to their predecessors, today’s European leaders lack experience with nuclear war threats. Another reason the West cannot discuss nuclear arms is that there only exists one arms control treaty between the U.S. and Russia. Also, new threats such as cyber warfare emerged, therefore nuclear deterrence may be less effective in the current circumstances.

Find the full article for the Foreign Policy below.