Leaders | The new nuclear threat

Reluctantly, America eyes building more nuclear weapons

The superpower faces more adversaries, new technologies and less-confident allies

American flag umbrella with holes in it
image: Justin Metz

The nuclear de-escalation that followed the cold war is over, the Pentagon warned this month. In its place is a new rivalry among nuclear and almost-nuclear powers, some of them paranoid. It is more complex and less predictable than the old, bipolar contest between America and the Soviet Union. That makes it more dangerous.

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This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “The new nuclear threat”

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