Key Facts
Nuclear weapons have long been viewed as a crucial means of deterrence in foreign policy. But during the Cold war, we increased the production of nuclear weapons and it didn’t prevent wars and regional conflicts. And with the collapse of the Soviet Union the long-standing reliance on nuclear deterrence has become even more obsolete.
Many nations now have nuclear capabilities, which makes nuclear deterrence a much more complicated and dangerous calculation.
Non-state actors like terrorist groups cannot easily be deterred by the threat of nuclear weapons.
Without a commitment from major world powers to change the nature of global and regional conflicts, widespread denuclearization will not occur. The only way forward is for the United States and other major nuclear powers to work together to create the conditions for a world without nuclear weapons.