The expiration of the last remaining bilateral treaty between the United States and Russia to limit the number of nuclear weapons portends a more dangerous and uncertain global security environment at a moment of growing nuclear competition, according to Northeastern University experts. The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, was conceived in the aftermath of the Cold War as a way to rein in nuclear arsenals after years of weapons expansion. The treaty, first signed in 1991 (START 1) and later renewed in 2010 and 2021 (New START), worked to put a cap and significantly reduce U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals, bringing numbers down to 1,550 per country, according to limits delineated in the agreement.
The pact helped to provide a sense of stability between the two powers for decades, said Northeastern University national security expert Stephen Flynn. “The end of that treaty brings us back to those scary times and risks an arms race,” Flynn said. “Whereas the Cold War took place in a bipolar world, today we have China as a formidable nuclear force, and other countries looking to join the nuclear club.”
