In a cry of concern that the world is entering the most dangerous period in human history, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said on Monday that nuclear powers were rapidly increasing their weapons in the context the deterioration of the geopolitical situation in the world into hotbeds of conflict, including Ukraine.
Russia and the United States each possess nearly 90% of all nuclear weapons, but the Sperry Institute said the size of Russian and American arsenals appeared to remain relatively unchanged in 2022.
What did the international report contain?
• Of the 12,512 nuclear warheads available worldwide as of January 2023, approximately 9,576 were equipped for potential use, an increase of 86 from January 2022.
• About 3,844 warheads were deployed on missiles and aircraft, and about 2,000, almost all of which belonged to Washington and Moscow, were on high alert, which means providing them with missiles or placing them at strategic air bases.
• There are 9 nuclear powers, namely Great Britain, Israel, India, China, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, the United States and France, which continue to modernize their arsenals of this type of weapon.
• Diplomacy in the field of disarmament and control of nuclear arsenals, in the context of the situation in Ukraine, has received a “hard blow”.
The most dangerous time in history
Wilfred Wang, director of the Institute’s program on weapons of mass destruction, believes:
• The five nuclear powers recognized by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons are moving away from their disarmament commitments.
• Global security continues to deteriorate after the onset of serious geopolitical tensions, with the loss of trust between international powers since the start of the war in Ukraine.
As for the director of the Stockholm Peace Research Institute, Dan Smith, he considered that:
• Humanity is entering one of the most dangerous periods in history.
• Governments must find ways to cooperate to reduce geopolitical tensions.
• The arms race must be reduced and dedicated to the fight against environmental disasters and the global hunger crisis.
Washington is ahead
Regarding international spending on nuclear weapons, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons said in its annual report for the year 2022, which was released on Monday, that:
• The world has spent $82.9 billion on nuclear arsenals, which is equivalent to spending $157,000,664 per minute.
• US expenditures amounted to $43.7 billion, and they are still far ahead of all other powers.
• Russian spending was $9.6 billion, an increase of around 6% from 2021.
• China spent $11.7 billion, an increase of about 6% from 2021.
• India spent $2.7 billion, registering the largest increase in spending in this defense sector, amounting to 21.8%.
• The UK allocated $6.8 billion, up 11%, as the fourth biggest spender.
• France spent $5.6 billion.
• India spent $2.7 billion.
• Israel spent $1.2 billion.
• Pakistan spent $1 billion.
• North Korea spent $589 million.
The report says private sector profits came in at least $29 billion behind the $82.9 billion global spending on nuclear weapons.
Producing companies have also secured new contracts worth around $16 billion in 2022, and nuclear powers have signed contracts worth as much as $278.6 billion with companies to produce such weapons, some of which will continue until 2040.
The political coordinator of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, Alicia Sanders Zachary, announced that Washington had deployed about 150 nuclear warheads in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.
The two giants
• Immediately after the start of the war in Ukraine, the United States suspended dialogue with Russia on strategic stability.
• In February 2023, Russia suspended its participation in START III, the only treaty with the United States on the non-proliferation of strategic nuclear weapons.
• Russia and the United States possess about 90% of the world’s nuclear arsenal, which includes more than 12,000 warheads.
• Russia is in the lead, with about 6,000 nuclear warheads, including 1,588 warheads in strategic launch mode and 4,390 in storage or retrieval mode.
• The United States possesses approximately 5,400 nuclear warheads, divided into 1,644 warheads in strategic launch mode and 3,665 in storage or retrieval mode.
Defending Russia’s nuclear supremacy, Russian military expert Yuri Solomonov says nuclear weapons “guarantee our security and the security of the Russian nation”.
Solomonov added to Sky News Arabia: “Because we have a huge strategic nuclear power, it removes the specter of war between our country and the West and other nuclear powers. Thanks to nuclear weapons, the world can avoid the global armed conflicts.”
And he continues: “With the nuclear question, the globe has not known world wars in the last 70 years, other than regional conflicts with conventional weapons.”
As for the military expert, Peter Alex, he says that the recent Russian nuclear alert and the deployment of weapons in Belarus aim to deter the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) from supporting Ukraine.
Alex opined, in his interview with “Sky News Arabia”, that “more NATO involvement will be a nightmare for everyone, as it makes Russia more desperate to succeed in the battle”.
And he adds: “There is a danger that Moscow will use the smaller tactical nuclear weapons that have been deployed in Belarus, as this aims to turn the tide of the military situation and create a major shock that puts Western countries in a stalemate, fearing that any reaction from him would push for more nuclear weapons.”
And Alex continues: “The number of nuclear weapons is very sufficient to kill the population of the major cities of the United States and Russia, and any exchange of nuclear strikes on terrestrial nuclear installations will result in a global catastrophe.”
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