Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb?

After the short peaceful years that followed the Cold War, the world is rearming itself with nuclear weapons again. What does this renewed nuclear arms race mean for global security?

With the theatrical backdrop of a gigantic submarine, President Macron announced an unprecedented change of course: France wants to broaden its nuclear umbrella and cooperate with other countries, including the Netherlands. The reason for this drastic step is the declining confidence that the American nuclear umbrella will continue to protect Europe in the future.

At the same time, treaties between the United States and Russia (which together possess 90 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons) aimed at limiting the number of nuclear weapons have expired. In addition to the United States and Russia, major powers such as China, India, and France are also modernizing or increasing their number of nuclear warheads.

What does this renewed nuclear arms race mean for global security? Is a second, European, nuclear shield our best guarantee of peace? And what does the rise of AI mean for the way nuclear weapons are controlled and deployed?