Senior Policy Director John Erath spoke with Anadolu Ajansı about increasing nuclear arsenals worldwide.
“Most leaders in most countries now feel like the world is becoming a less safe place,” John Erath, senior policy director at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, told Anadolu.
“And more leaders are thinking that military means are the best way to ensure safety.”
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Erath said the current situation differs from the Cold War, when nuclear competition was dominated by the US and the Soviet Union.
“It’s not exactly the same as during the Cold War,” he said. “Then you had two blocs led by a superpower which had thousands and thousands of nuclear weapons. Now there are nine nuclear states.”
China is expanding its arsenal faster than any other nuclear-armed country, according to SIPRI, which estimates that Beijing possesses around 620 warheads.
“If it’s a race, there’s only one person running, and that’s China,” Erath said.
“The US and Russia are modernizing their nuclear weapons. They’re improving some of the weapons they do have. In the case of Russia, they’re developing new types of weapons, but they’re not increasing numbers.”
However, he warned that China’s buildup is increasing pressure in Washington for the US to expand its own arsenal, potentially creating a three-way arms competition.
“In Washington, there are people saying already that the US needs to build more nuclear weapons because China is doing so,” he said.
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