What Are Nuclear Analysts Worried About?

Tabitha Sanders, RCD: What Keeps Nuclear Analysts up at Night?

Fresh off the Hanoi Summit, the 2019 Carnegie International Nuclear Policy Conference kicked off this past Monday, where analysts, officials, and scholars gathered in D.C. to discuss the future of arms control and U.S. nuclear policy. Among the top concerns were the new threat from emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), the future of U.S.-Russia strategic relations after the collapse of the INF treaty, and the status of U.S.-North Korea denuclearization negotiations. Each issue comes with challenges, from human error to technical capability, and many of the first day's panelists admitted that the future of arms control was uncertain.

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WNU Editor:  I am not worried about the big powers and their nuclear arsenals. The U.S., U.K., France, Russia, and China know the dangers involved, and they will maintain the necessary dialogue to make sure that these weapons are never used. It is the other nations with nuclear arsenals that scare me, as well as those nations that do not have such an arsenal but are positioned to quickly develop one. These countries are not transparent, and they look at these weapons as an instrument to intimidate and/or deter their neighbours. In these situations, escalation and the use of these weapons could become a very real possibility.