The War in Ukraine and Global Nuclear Order

In the lead for Survival, the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ bi-monthly journal, CSS researchers Alexander Bollfrass and Stephen Herzog explain that the global nuclear order is very resilient. It can withstand nuclear threats made by Russia during the war in Ukraine and is not on the brink of collapse.

Putin parade
Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin, seen here speaking at a 2016 military parade in Moscow's Red Square, has issued nuclear threats during the war in Ukraine. Image courtesy of kremlin.ru

Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has neither exposed the international nuclear-governance regime as toothless nor brought it to the verge of collapse. The global nuclear order's history shows its resilience to rogue acts by great powers. In this Survival article, CSS' Alexander K. Bollfrass and Stephen Herzog argue that nuclear targeting, deterrent threats and associated risk-reduction efforts are hardly new phenomena and the main consequence of the war is renewed public awareness of the often unpalatable role nuclear weapons play in international politics.

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