ABSTRACT
Warnings about the breakdown of the institutions, norms and security practices that govern the development and use of nuclear technology worldwide – also referred to as the global nuclear order – appear regularly. At the same time, the nuclear order has been incredibly stable, overcoming changes in the security environment, technological shifts and public opposition. Since its conception, the global nuclear order has been fraught, whether through the tension between credibility and restraint in building up a nuclear arsenal, the countervailing pressures of antagonism and trust in the relationship between adversaries, and the inequality between the nuclear ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ that underpins the nuclear order. Despite the many contradictions, the global nuclear order has been marked by an incredible amount of resilience – the result of the deep embeddedness of the nuclear apparatus, the invisibility of states’ nuclear pursuits, and the adaptability of the order to changing circumstances. Bearing in mind that stability this chapter sheds new light on the major challenges that the nuclear order faces today and in the future: the unravelling of the arms control regime, the perceived threat from emerging technologies, the challenges posed by the disarmament movement and the overlooked implications of climate change for the global nuclear order.
