Nuclear Testing Victim: Fear and Trauma | Nuclear Weapons
- The nuclear danger today is greater than at any time since the Cold War.
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The Renewed nuclear Danger: A Growing Threat to Humanity
Table of Contents
The Unraveling of Arms Control
The nuclear danger today is greater than at any time since the Cold War. The world faces the prospect of a renewed arms race, this time unconstrained by the agreements that for decades kept catastrophe at bay. It is estimated that there are now 12,241 nuclear warheads worldwide. Arms control is unravelling before our eyes: Inspections under the New START treaty, the last remaining arms control agreement between the United States and Russia, remain suspended, and with its expiration in February 2026, there is no successor in sight. The Intermediate-range Nuclear forces Treaty is gone, the Treaty on Open Skies has been abandoned, and the Thorough Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty has still not entered into force. Simultaneously occurring, the world’s geopolitical landscape is more volatile than ever.
The Current Nuclear Landscape: A Statistical Overview
| Country | Estimated Warheads (2024) |
|---|---|
| Russia | 4,380 |
| United States | 3,708 |
| China | 500 |
| France | 290 |
| United Kingdom | 225 |
| Pakistan | 170 |
| India | 164 |
| Israel | 90 |
| North Korea | 30-50 |
The Illusion of Security
Deep down, everyone knows nuclear weapons are a danger. We know their destructive power: Instant annihilation, radiation sickness, cancers, poisoned land, and generations of suffering. Yet the international community increasingly accepts the idea that nuclear weapons make countries safe. It is true that, at the level of geopolitics, they can provide a shield of deterrence. But on a global scale, they are a sword of