A Misleading Metaphor: The Nuclear “Arms Race”

COMMENTARY Defense

A Misleading Metaphor: The Nuclear “Arms Race”

Feb 28, 2024 1 min read

Commentary By

Robert Peters @realbobpeters

Research Fellow, Nuclear Deterrence and Missile Defense

Matthew R. Costlow @Matt_Costlow

Senior Analyst, National Institute for Public Policy

Kyle Balzer

Jeane Kirkpatrick Fellow, American Enterprise Institute

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with China's President Xi Jinping at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 20, 2023. SERGEI KARPUKHIN / SPUTNIK / AFP / Getty Images

There is an emerging threat to the United States that will “endanger everyone,” one that can cause “escalation and misunderstandings” and even increase “the risk of a crisis or conflict that might turn nuclear.” No, these descriptors are not about Russia’s latest doomsday nuclear weapon or China’s provocative military behavior toward its neighbors. Instead, these are the purported consequences of a three-way nuclear “arms race” that some analysts believe the United States is about to ignite. 

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This piece originally appeared in War on the Rocks

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