Taps Coogan – August 10th, 2020

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However dangerous the geopolitical landscape may feel at the moment, the reality is that nuclear weapons stockpiles have fallen dramatically since the height of the Cold War, when the Soviet Union and the US were under the periodic threat of nuclear apocalypse.

As the following chart from Statista.com shows, US and Russian nuclear weapon stockpiles have fallen from a peak of roughly 62,000 in 1986 to less than 10,000 today (which is still quite a lot).

As China has supplanted Russia as the leading military and economic rival to the US, its absence from the arms controls agreements which led to the aforementioned reduction in US/Russian nuclear stockpiles have rendered the agreements increasingly obsolete. While China’s nuclear arsenal is believed to be in the vicinity of 320 bombs, the true number may be much higher and China is expected to double or triple its arsenal this decade.

Negotiations for a replacement of the New Start agreement,  which expires in February, are ongoing and the US is insisting that China join the treaty. For now, China has resisted even participating in the negotiations.

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