The world is rapidly approaching a major crossroads in nuclear security, as the last remaining arms control treaty between the United States and Russia, the New START treaty, is set to expire on Feb 5th. Without an eleventh-hour agreement, we could see the beginning of an unrestrained nuclear arms race for the first time since the height of the Cold War.
If New START lapses, there will be absolutely no constraints on long-range nuclear arsenals for the first time since 1972, when President Richard Nixon and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev signed two historic agreements. It is such an impactful event that the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists considered it when setting the Doomsday clock for 2026.
