During the Cold War, the US and the Soviet Union agreed on at least one thing: the spread of nuclear weapons was dangerous for all. Today, under Donald Trump’s presidency, that consensus seems weaker than ever. The US president’s pivot toward Russia and his dismissive stance on NATO have unsettled key allies, Financial Times reports.
Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that due to the threat Russia poses to the EU and potential shifts in US policy, he would initiate a discussion on France as a nuclear power, providing security guarantees to other EU countries. UkrInform reported that he also said he planned to turn the Luxeuil-les-Bains airbase into the future home for the next generation of Rafale jets, which will be equipped with hypersonic nuclear missiles.
This shift is forcing long-standing partners—Germany, Poland, South Korea, and Japan—to grapple with what was once unthinkable: how to prepare for the possible loss of America’s nuclear umbrella.
“The Trump phenomenon has provided a powerful accelerant for voices in US-allied states who now see nuclear weapons in their own hands as fundamentally solving the problem posed by American unreliability,” said Ankit Panda of the Carnegie Endowment think-tank.
Under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, the list of officially recognized nuclear-armed states is limited to the US, Russia, China, France, and the UK—the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.
India, Israel, and Pakistan, which never signed the treaty, have also developed nuclear weapons, as has North Korea—the only country to withdraw from the NPT. Analysts warn that if the NPT collapses, particularly due to a US pullback from its commitments, the world could see the number of nuclear-armed states rise to between 15 and 25.
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