US 2019 Missile Defense Review: escalating competition with Russia and China
As explained by Joy Mitra on The Diplomat, on the heels of the first and the second nuclear ages, respectively shaped by bipolar nuclear competition and nuclear nonproliferation concerns, the dawn of a “third nuclear age,” a much-debated concept, seems incumbent with the world witnessing a renewed strategic competition between the three superpower states of the United States, Russia, and China. The United States also faces a nuclear rivalry with regional powers like North Korea, which continues to modernize its arsenal, and Iran, which could pursue an intercontinental-range ballistic missile (ICBM).
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| The mushroom cloud from the atmospheric detonation of the 11 megaton Castle Romeo nuclear bomb. ( Picture source: CBTBO) |
