Die Grundlagen der globalen nuklearen Sicherheit brechen zusammen

The collapse of the last US-Russia nuclear treaty later today risks prompting an unconstrained new arms race.

The expiry of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) ends almost half a century of binding limits on US and [Russian nuclear stockpiles](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/how-vladimir-putin-nuclear-weapons-constantly-renewed-battle-ready-3580519?srsltid=AfmBOoqOs1uTXv5u9wqEyHMzGCN6SmRmXFASksI8Ottse3qJZZgwfTwW&ico=in-line_link). Through various treaties since the 1970s, the two biggest nuclear powers have – despite their differences – found a common ground, agreeing that nuclear restraint is necessary. That was, it appears, until now. 

What comes next is “a less predictable world”, said Mallory Stewart, chief executive of the Council on Strategic Risks. That comes amid an [intensifying nuclear landscape](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/nine-countries-with-nuclear-weapons-3753584?srsltid=AfmBOorNY8AB_LcLdGIqpenZlvrH52YJxMVNSQ1lF0l2TYotznxPPJbi&ico=in-line_link): there are now at least 12,341 nuclear weapons in existence, and this number is going up, among more volatile rhetoric, including recent statements about resuming nuclear testing.

Experts suggest the end of New START, the last bilateral arms control treaty capping Washington and Moscow’s strategic nuclear stockpiles, could increase the risk of an unconstrained [nuclear arms](https://inews.co.uk/topic/nuclear-weapons?srsltid=AfmBOooi9ud3nKaFSbtoPTBmD9ltUo9BLY2CiTH0uqA8RSDxgGwGsrat&ico=in-line_link) race. But the immediate danger is the loss of nuclear oversight and predictability in an arena where miscalculations could prove catastrophic.

“We do not know how fast or in what systems nuclear arms racing between the US and Russia will proceed,” Stewart told *The i* *Paper*. But one thing is evident: “More nuclear weapons mean more nuclear risk globally.”

# Cornerstone of arms control

Signed in 2010 by former US president Barack Obama and former Russian president Dimitri Medvedev, New START was a continuation of the START I treaty that expired in 2009. It reaffirmed mutual restraint by capping strategic nuclear arms at 1,550 deployed warheads and enabling mutual inspections. Though still a significant amount of arms, it was dramatically lower than Cold War levels.