The Erosion of Nuclear Deterrence and Global Stability (legrandcontinent.eu)

• Collapse of strategic arms reduction negotiations and communication channels.
• Ambiguity regarding tactical nuclear weapons weakens the historical 'nuclear taboo'.
• Trilateral nuclear power dynamics lack the institutionalized guardrails of the Cold War.

"David Holloway discusses the collapse of Cold War-era mechanisms designed to manage nuclear risks. He highlights that the erosion of the nuclear threshold, driven by the emergence of 'tactical' nukes and the lack of high-level diplomatic dialogue, significantly increases the danger of miscalculation. With the shift from a bipolar to a trilateral (US-Russia-China) nuclear order, established safeguards have vanished. The article warns that the 'madman theory' of political rhetoric, combined with the decay of non-proliferation norms, has created a highly volatile global security environment compared to the structured constraints of the mid-20th century."