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Cold War

February 2, 2026

â˜¢ï¸ Nuclear euphemisms: how 'deterrence' masks escalation

Konstantin Schendzielorz Deterrence is back — but not as we knew it. Once a strategy of nuclear restraint, the term is now being stretched to justify aggressive military actions, at home and abroad. Konstantin Schendzielorz argues that, as meanings shift, so do red lines. The nuclear umbrella may be turning into a very real sword Read more
January 23, 2026

☢ï¸Â How nuclear weapon reductions backfired for NATO 

Wannes Verstraete Russia continues to rely on its sub-strategic nuclear arsenal, and NATO is therefore hoping in vain for sub-strategic nuclear arms control negotiations. For three decades, says Wannes Verstraete, the Alliance has merely been 'waiting for Godot'  Read more
November 28, 2025

â˜¢ï¸ Africa’s disarmament experience holds lessons for a stalled nuclear debate 

Robin E. Möser African states have long championed nuclear disarmament, from resisting colonial-era testing to advancing the Pelindaba and Prohibition Treaties. Yet frustration is growing over the slow pace of progress and exclusion from global forums. Robin Möser argues that African experiences offer lessons to revitalise inclusivity ahead of the 2026 Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) Review Conference Read more
September 10, 2025

â˜¢ï¸ Enduring lessons or outdated logic? Updating Europe’s nuclear thinking 

Linde Desmaele Cold War-era nuclear thinking can help explain how today’s challenges emerged. But Linde Desmaele warns that uncritical reliance on such thinking leads to misguided policies. Outdated frameworks can distort our understanding of how nuclear weapons are classified, how Russian intent is interpreted, what counts as success, and which actors will shape Europe’s nuclear future  Read more
September 9, 2025

Lost in translation: why the West keeps misreading China

Stefan Messingschlager Western governments have armies of Mandarin speakers and AI translators, yet they keep misreading Beijing. What’s missing, as Stefan Messingschlager argues, is independent, context-rich expertise – people able to decode China’s history-laden signals and puncture bureaucratic groupthink. This kind of knowledge is strategic insurance every democracy needs before the next crisis hits Read more
August 4, 2025

â˜¢ï¸ The legacy of Kazakhstan's nuclear past 

Marzhan Nurzhan The people of Kazakhstan are still grappling with the toxic legacy of twentieth-century Soviet nuclear tests. Marzhan Nurzhan examines nuclear identity and decoloniality in Kazakhstan's atomic past, through the medium of visual art  Read more
July 14, 2025

☢ï¸Â Nuclear future – deterrence or disarmament?

Cecilia Gustavsson The core principles of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) are to prevent a the development and acquisition of nuclear weapons, and to reach complete disarmament. But, argues Cecilia Gustavsson, without improved transparency and independent verification mechanisms, the NPT could, paradoxically, accelerate a new nuclear arms race Read more
April 23, 2025

â˜¢ï¸ The Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty in a fracturing global landscape

Melissa Parke Tensions around nuclear weapons and the risk of their use are at a peak. Yet, European leaders are in nuclear proliferation hysteria. Melissa Parke argues that the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) offers an alternative path to nuclear deterrence in a fracturing global landscape Read more

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Advancing Political Science
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