Why Fears of a Nuclear Arms Race Are Rising After US-Russia Treaty Expires

The New START treaty served as a bulwark against a renewed nuclear arms race between the US and Russia, who together possess almost 90% of the world’s atomic warheads. The bilateral accord expired on Feb. 5. As a result, for the first time in decades, there are no mutually agreed constraints on the countries’ long-range nuclear arsenals.

After the deal lapsed, US President Donald Trump called for a “new, improved, and modernized” treaty, which would take time to negotiate. In the absence of such a replacement, there are fears that the US and Russia could enter a new era of brinkmanship — at a time when the world is closer than ever to man-made destruction, according to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists’ Doomsday Clock.