The deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus would increase nuclear risks and undermine key nonproliferation norms, but it would not alter the strategic balance in Europe. For Russia, sharing nuclear weapons with Belarus might well backfire politically. NATO countries should therefore resist the impulse to up the nuclear ante.
Today the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists have announced the Doomsday Clock 2023 and how close we are to midnight. We asked some of our network members what can be done to turn back the clock and avert a man-made global catastrophe.
In contrast to the disappointing outcomes of the non-proliferation and disarmament pillars of the 2022 Review Conference, a significant reinvigoration took place in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy pillar. Olamide Samuel writes that Pillar III offered progressive solutions by identifying how the treaty plays a role in mitigating some of the most pressing human and environmental security issues of our time and could help inform mechanisms for cooperation and success in future RevCons.
In the past, concerns about a nuclear attack were mainly in regard to the leaders of rogue states acquiring nuclear weapons. The war in Ukraine has shifted this threat to the leader of a superpower waging a war with thousands of known nuclear weapons on hair-trigger alert. Tarja Cronberg explores the ways in which control over nuclear weapons can be taken out of the hands of world leaders, and how to mitigate the risk of a nuclear war triggered by the human error of powerful individuals.
At the end of June, the first Meeting of States Parties to the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) took place in Vienna. At this inaugural meeting, states parties to the TPNW gathered to commit to concrete actions to implement obligations under the Treaty. ELN network member Tarja Cronberg participated in the meeting and shares her reflections with us.
Russia’s war in Ukraine has already devastated Ukraine, and the situation could get even worse: Carlo Trezza argues that Russia could, for example, resort to chemical and/or nuclear weapons. To stand up to Russia’s aggression, there are many actions that both NATO and the UN can take to pressure Russia.