Era of American nuclear privilege comes to end

(MENAFN) Nuclear proliferation is no longer a theoretical concern — it is now a reality, with the only question being how fast it will accelerate. In the near future, the number of nuclear-armed nations could rise from the current nine to as many as fifteen. However, this shift is unlikely to fundamentally disrupt global politics or trigger a worldwide catastrophe.

The advent of nuclear weapons marked a technological revolution that permanently altered the global order. These weapons continue to shape the hierarchy of military power, presenting a threat no government can ignore.

Perhaps their most significant impact has been the creation of states virtually immune to external attack — a condition unheard of in history. Previously, even the strongest empires could fall to coalitions of enemies. Monarchies of the Enlightenment era, including Russia, relied on a balance of power to prevent any one nation from dominating.

Nuclear weapons changed this dynamic. Russia and the United States possess such vast arsenals of destructive force that neither can realistically be threatened or defeated, even by a unified group of adversaries. China is steadily moving into this elite category, though its nuclear stockpile remains much smaller than those of Washington or Moscow.

In this way, nuclear weapons have imposed a peculiar version of peace — not based on trust, but on fear. A direct war between nuclear superpowers is not just unthinkable; it is politically irrational.

However, achieving nuclear superpower status is prohibitively expensive. Even China, with its enormous resources, has only recently started to close the gap with Russia and the United States. For most nations, replicating this level of capability remains out of reach.

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