In response, U.S. allies and partners are taking initial steps toward a post-American nuclear order—one that will raise new questions about the spread, use, and control of the world’s deadliest weapon.
Since the dawn of the nuclear age, the United States has served as the guardian of the global nuclear order by upholding norms against nuclear use, curbing nuclear proliferation, and entering agreements to limit its own arsenal. This order mitigated the dangers posed by nuclear weapons for 80 years. Now, though, its pillars have begun to crack, with the collapse of arms control between the United States and Russia; China’s breakneck nuclear expansion; and the fraying of the nonproliferation regime. Donald Trump’s return to the presidency is accelerating the fragmentation, as allies and partners question the credibility of U.S. security commitments and Washington contemplates whether it will continue to lead on nonproliferation globally.
Since the dawn of the nuclear age, the United States has served as the guardian of the global nuclear order by upholding norms against nuclear use, curbing nuclear proliferation, and entering agreements to limit its own arsenal. This order mitigated the dangers posed by nuclear weapons for 80 years. Now, though, its pillars have begun to crack, with the collapse of arms control between the United States and Russia; China’s breakneck nuclear expansion; and the fraying of the nonproliferation regime. Donald Trump’s return to the presidency is accelerating the fragmentation, as allies and partners question the credibility of U.S. security commitments and Washington contemplates whether it will continue to lead on nonproliferation globally.
In response, U.S. allies and partners are taking initial steps toward a post-American nuclear order—one that will raise new questions about the spread, use, and control of the world’s deadliest weapon.
Washington’s leadership of the global nuclear order is among the most consequential and least appreciated successes of the postwar era.
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