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Nuclear War Threat Higher Than In Cold War: UK National Security Advisor

https://news.antiwar.com/2022/07/28/british-official-says-nuclear-war-threat-higher-than-during-the-cold-war/
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/7/28/uk-adviser-warns-of-nuclear-risk-amid-communication-breakdown
https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/Nuclearweaponswhohaswhat

Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

British National Security Advisor Stephen Lovegrove warned late this
week that there is a greater risk of nuclear war today than there was
during the Cold War due to a lack of communication channels.

"The Cold War’s two monolithic blocks of the USSR (Soviet Union) and
NATO — though not without alarming bumps — were able to reach a shared
understanding of doctrine that is today absent," Lovegrove said.
British Royal Navy HMS Vengeance, Image: UK MOD

He said during the Cold War, there was an "understanding of the Soviet
doctrine and capabilities — and vice versa" because they kept more
negotiation channels open.

"This gave us both a higher level of confidence that we would not
miscalculate our way into nuclear war," Lovegrove said. "Today we do
not have the same foundations with others who may threaten us in
future — particularly with China," he said.

Today, there is only one remaining nuclear arms control treaty between
the US and Russia, the New START, which limits the deployment of
nuclear warheads, bombers, submarines, and missiles. Since Russia
invaded Ukraine, the US has abandoned diplomacy with Moscow, and US
officials have said they can’t imagine negotiating a replacement of
New START before it expires in 2026.

The US has no nuclear arms control treaties with China, which has a
vastly smaller arsenal than the US or Russia. Current estimates put
Beijing’s arsenal at around 350 warheads, while the US has 5,550 and
Russia has about 6,200.

During the Trump administration, the US tried to get Beijing to take
part in trilateral arms control talks with Moscow and Washington. But
China has little interest in such talks while its arsenal is so much
smaller. If the US were serious about getting China involved, it would
need to work with Russia to significantly reduce its stockpiles.
Sir Stephen Lovegrove, Getty Images

Besides the lack of communication, the risk of nuclear war is
significantly higher today because the US is funding a war on Russia’s
border and helping Ukraine with intelligence to carry out attacks on
Russian forces. The US is also stoking tensions with China by
deploying more military forces in the South China Sea and increasing
support for Taiwan.