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<title>The Bombs Which Polish the Skulls of the Dead: The Eighth
Newsletter (2026)</title>
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The Bombs Which Polish the
Skulls of the Dead: The Eighth
Newsletter (2026) </td>
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With New START now expired, the
United States\u2019 withdrawal from
arms control treaties and its
embrace of nuclear \u2018warfighting\u2019
doctrines are raising the risk
of catastrophic conflict between
nuclear powers. </td>
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<br>
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class="wp-caption alignnone"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async"
aria-describedby="caption-attachment-136097"
class="size-large wp-image-136097 img-responsive mcRssImage"
src="https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Yoshito-Matsushige-Japan-Hiroshima-1945-743x1024.jpg"
alt="" width="743"
srcset="https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Yoshito-Matsushige-Japan-Hiroshima-1945-743x1024.jpg 743w, https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Yoshito-Matsushige-Japan-Hiroshima-1945-218x300.jpg 218w, https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Yoshito-Matsushige-Japan-Hiroshima-1945-768x1059.jpg 768w, https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Yoshito-Matsushige-Japan-Hiroshima-1945-1114x1536.jpg 1114w, https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Yoshito-Matsushige-Japan-Hiroshima-1945.jpg 1200w"
sizes="(max-width: 743px) 100vw, 743px" border="0"
style="max-width: 100%;width: 100%;padding-bottom: 0;display: inline;vertical-align: bottom;border: 0;height: auto;outline: none;text-decoration: none;-ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic;"
moz-do-not-send="true">
<p
id="caption-attachment-136097" class="wp-caption-text"
style="text-align: center;margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;"><small>Yoshito
Matsushige (Japan), <i>Hiroshima</i>,
1945.</small></p>
</div>
</div>
<p align="left"
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">Dear
friends,</p>
<p align="left"
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">Greetings
from the desk of <a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=c6b59ccff2&e=d206d0a40d"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">Tricontinental:
Institute for Social
Research</a>.</p>
<p align="left"
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">On
5 February 2026, the New
Strategic Arms Reduction
Treaty (New START) expired,
ending the last surviving
legal constraint on the
strategic nuclear arsenals
of the United States and the
Russian Federation. New
START, which was signed in
2010 and entered into force
in 2011, should have been
replaced by a successor
agreement. The treaty
limited strategic warheads
and delivery vehicles
deployed by each side and
established a verification
regime of inspection,
notification, and
information exchange. These
measures were not cosmetic;
they were thin threads that
restrained the most
destructive machinery ever
assembled.</p>
<p align="left"
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">The
expiration of New START did
not arrive suddenly. Due to
the decade-long breakdown in
US-Russia relations, on-site
inspections were paused by
both sides in March 2020 and
never resumed. In February
2023, Russia suspended its
participation in New START,
and the US responded in kind
(Russia has publicly <a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=c1c21cb757&e=d206d0a40d"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">said</a>
it intends to continue
observing New START\u2019s
numerical limits, provided
the US does the same). By
the time the treaty formally
lapsed, its verification
spine had already been
severed.</p>
<p align="left"
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">We
now live in a world where
the two largest nuclear
powers are unrestrained by
any binding treaty limits.</p>
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src="https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Hilma-af-Klint-Sweden-The-Atom-Series-no.-7-1917-942x1024.jpg"
alt="" width="942"
srcset="https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Hilma-af-Klint-Sweden-The-Atom-Series-no.-7-1917-942x1024.jpg 942w, https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Hilma-af-Klint-Sweden-The-Atom-Series-no.-7-1917-276x300.jpg 276w, https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Hilma-af-Klint-Sweden-The-Atom-Series-no.-7-1917-768x835.jpg 768w, https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Hilma-af-Klint-Sweden-The-Atom-Series-no.-7-1917-1412x1536.jpg 1412w, https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Hilma-af-Klint-Sweden-The-Atom-Series-no.-7-1917-1883x2048.jpg 1883w, https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Hilma-af-Klint-Sweden-The-Atom-Series-no.-7-1917.jpg 2000w"
sizes="(max-width: 942px) 100vw, 942px" border="0"
style="max-width: 100%;width: 100%;padding-bottom: 0;display: inline;vertical-align: bottom;border: 0;height: auto;outline: none;text-decoration: none;-ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic;"
moz-do-not-send="true">
<p
id="caption-attachment-136049" class="wp-caption-text"
style="text-align: center;margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;"><small>Hilma
af Klint (Sweden), <i>The
Atom Series no. 7</i>,
1917.</small></p>
</div>
</div>
<p align="left"
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">Since
2002, the United States has
unilaterally exited one arms
control treaty after
another, eroding the
architecture that helped
stabilise deterrence. These
treaties include the
following:</p>
<ol>
<li
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">
<p align="left"
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">The
Anti-Ballistic Missile
Treaty of 1972 \u2013 US
withdrawal, June 2002.</p>
</li>
<li
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">
<p align="left"
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">The
Intermediate-Range
Nuclear Forces Treaty of
1987 \u2013 US withdrawal,
August 2019.</p>
</li>
<li
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">
<p align="left"
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">The
Treaty on Open Skies of
1992 \u2013 US withdrawal,
November 2020.</p>
</li>
<li
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">
<p align="left"
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">The
New START of 2011 \u2013
expired, February 2026.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p align="left"
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">The
end of New START unfolds
within a broader turn toward
nuclear \u2018warfighting\u2019
doctrines, including a
renewed emphasis on the
diabolical idea of
counterforce \u2013 the outlines
of which appear in the <a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=54dfdc9301&e=d206d0a40d"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">2018
US Nuclear Posture Review</a>
(NPR). The idea is simple:
to attack an adversary\u2019s
nuclear forces and command
systems rather than its
cities. Such an attack is
seen to be more rational and
even more humane. In
reality, an attack of this
kind destabilises all
deterrence systems.
Counterforce doctrines
reward speed, pre-emption,
and first-strike advantage,
thereby compressing
decision-making time. The
doctrine creates a
use-it-or-lose-it pressure \u2013
the fear that you must
launch before your forces
are destroyed \u2013 that makes
miscalculation structural,
not accidental. As warfare
technologies advance, this
logic is amplified. Highly
developed conventional
strike systems, missile
defences, hypersonic
delivery systems, and
integrated
command-and-control networks
(shared systems that link
sensors, communications, and
decision-making) blur the
boundary between nuclear and
non-nuclear war. A missile
launched with conventional
intent may be interpreted as
a nuclear strike. Dual-use
platforms \u2013 systems that can
carry conventional or
nuclear payloads \u2013 undermine
signalling clarity by making
it difficult to determine
whether a launch is
conventional or nuclear.
Escalation ladders shorten.
The margin for error narrows
to seconds.</p>
<div
class="single-post--content--media-block single-post--content--image"
style="text-align:center; margin:3em 0;">
<div id="attachment_136041"
class="wp-caption alignnone"><img decoding="async"
aria-describedby="caption-attachment-136041"
class="size-large wp-image-136041 img-responsive mcRssImage"
src="https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Enrico-Baj-Italy-Two-Children-in-the-Nuclear-Night-1956-1024x818.jpg"
alt="" width="1024"
srcset="https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Enrico-Baj-Italy-Two-Children-in-the-Nuclear-Night-1956-1024x818.jpg 1024w, https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Enrico-Baj-Italy-Two-Children-in-the-Nuclear-Night-1956-300x240.jpg 300w, https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Enrico-Baj-Italy-Two-Children-in-the-Nuclear-Night-1956-768x614.jpg 768w, https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Enrico-Baj-Italy-Two-Children-in-the-Nuclear-Night-1956.jpg 1200w"
sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" border="0"
style="max-width: 100%;width: 100%;padding-bottom: 0;display: inline;vertical-align: bottom;border: 0;height: auto;outline: none;text-decoration: none;-ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic;"
moz-do-not-send="true">
<p
id="caption-attachment-136041" class="wp-caption-text"
style="text-align: center;margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;"><small>Enrico
Baj (Italy), <i>Two
Children in the
Nuclear Night</i>,
1956.</small></p>
</div>
</div>
<p align="left"
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">The
counterforce doctrine is not
merely an abstract debate
but has materialised in
government budgets and arms
procurement contracts. The <a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=0f9ad526df&e=d206d0a40d"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">2022
US NPR</a> affirmed the
modernisation of the nuclear
triad: land-based
intercontinental ballistic
missiles, submarine-launched
ballistic missiles, and
nuclear-capable strategic
bombers. Crucially, the 2022
NPR rejects \u2018no first use\u2019
and \u2018sole purpose\u2019 policies
(\u2018no first use\u2019 means
committing not to use
nuclear weapons first; \u2018sole
purpose\u2019 means limiting
their role to deterrence
and, if necessary, for
responding to nuclear
attack). The current policy
holds that the US would only
consider the use of nuclear
weapons, under \u2018extreme
circumstances\u2019, to defend
its vital interests or those
of its allies and partners,
but it does not foreclose
first use, and leaves open a
\u2018narrow range of
contingencies\u2019 in which
nuclear weapons may deter
attacks with \u2018strategic
effect\u2019. This posture
preserves the option to
target adversary military
capabilities \u2013 including
their strategic forces if
necessary \u2013 without overtly
committing to the
counterforce doctrine. The <a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=c031917f12&e=d206d0a40d"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">2023
Congressional Commission
on the Strategic Posture
of the United States</a>
took this further, arguing
that US nuclear planning
should continue to target
what adversaries \u2018value
most\u2019. In these texts,
nuclear weapons are not
presented as tragic
necessities of modern
statecraft but as normal
tools that can be used in
certain circumstances.</p>
<p align="left"
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">The
madness behind these
attitudes is fuelled by the
enormous profits earned by
the arms industry, which
seeks to modernise nuclear
systems around the
counterforce doctrine. A
2025 report by PAX and the
International Campaign to
Abolish Nuclear Weapons
(ICAN) titled <a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=db0bad3e42&e=d206d0a40d"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true"><i>At
Great Cost: The
Companies Building
Nuclear Weapons and
their Financiers</i></a>
found that, between January
2022 and August 2024, 260
global financial
institutions (including
pension funds, insurance
companies, and asset
managers) financed 24
nuclear weapons producers,
with investors holding just
under $514 billion in shares
and bonds and with around
$270 billion provided in
loans and underwriting.
These companies include
Airbus, BAE Systems,
Bechtel, Boeing, General
Dynamics, L3Harris
Technologies, Northrop
Grumman, and Rolls-Royce.
ICAN\u2019s 2025 report <a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=519bd16493&e=d206d0a40d"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true"><i>Hidden
Costs: Nuclear Weapons
Spending in 2024</i></a>
estimates that the nine
nuclear-armed states spent
$100.2 billion on their
nuclear arsenals in 2024,
with the private sector
earning at least $42.5
billion from nuclear weapons
contracts. That sum could
have paid the UN\u2019s budget 28
times and fed 345 million
people facing the most
severe hunger for nearly two
years. The nuclear weapons
industry is a striking waste
of human resources.</p>
<div
class="single-post--content--media-block single-post--content--image"
style="text-align:center; margin:3em 0;">
<div id="attachment_136065"
class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async"
aria-describedby="caption-attachment-136065"
class="size-large wp-image-136065 img-responsive mcRssImage"
src="https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Le-Corbusier-France-Composition-avec-photo-de-la-bombe-H-Composition-with-photo-of-the-H-bomb-1952-1024x776.jpg"
alt="" width="1024"
srcset="https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Le-Corbusier-France-Composition-avec-photo-de-la-bombe-H-Composition-with-photo-of-the-H-bomb-1952-1024x776.jpg 1024w, https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Le-Corbusier-France-Composition-avec-photo-de-la-bombe-H-Composition-with-photo-of-the-H-bomb-1952-300x227.jpg 300w, https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Le-Corbusier-France-Composition-avec-photo-de-la-bombe-H-Composition-with-photo-of-the-H-bomb-1952-768x582.jpg 768w, https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Le-Corbusier-France-Composition-avec-photo-de-la-bombe-H-Composition-with-photo-of-the-H-bomb-1952-1536x1164.jpg 1536w, https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Le-Corbusier-France-Composition-avec-photo-de-la-bombe-H-Composition-with-photo-of-the-H-bomb-1952.jpg 2000w"
sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" border="0"
style="max-width: 100%;width: 100%;padding-bottom: 0;display: inline;vertical-align: bottom;border: 0;height: auto;outline: none;text-decoration: none;-ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic;"
moz-do-not-send="true">
<p
id="caption-attachment-136065" class="wp-caption-text"
style="text-align: center;margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;"><small>Le
Corbusier (France), <i>Composition
avec photo de la
bombe \u2018H\u2019 </i>(Composition
with Photo of the \u2018H\u2019
Bomb), 1952.</small></p>
</div>
</div>
<p align="left"
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">Despite
the collapse of the
bilateral arms control
regime, the global nuclear
deterrence and eradication
system has not vanished. But
what remains is irradiated
by US domination over the
architecture of nuclear
policy:</p>
<ol>
<li
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">
<p align="left"
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;"><a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=413ba4ae23&e=d206d0a40d"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">The
Nuclear
Non-Proliferation
Treaty</a> (NPT, 1970)
remains in force even
though it reinforces the
system of nuclear
apartheid (despite
Article VI, which asks
nuclear-armed countries
to pursue disarmament).
The expiration of New
START deepens the NPT\u2019s
crisis of legitimacy and
exposes the disarmament
promise as perpetually
deferred. India, Israel,
and Pakistan never
signed the NPT; the
Democratic People\u2019s
Republic of Korea (DPRK)
signed it in 1985 but
withdrew in 2003.</p>
</li>
<li
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">
<p align="left"
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">The
<a
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">International
Atomic Energy Agency</a>
(IAEA, 1957) operates a
safeguards regime of
inspections, material
accountancy, and
monitoring. The 1997 <a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=cfed9f3372&e=d206d0a40d"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">Additional
Protocol</a> to the
IAEA extends these
capacities, yet this
mechanism remains
plagued by selective
enforcement. The IAEA\u2019s
investigations of Iran,
for instance, are not
shaped by evidence but
by the Global North\u2019s
hostility to the Iranian
government.</p>
</li>
<li
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">
<p align="left"
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">The
<a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=3a4c1be778&e=d206d0a40d"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">Nuclear
Suppliers Group</a>
(NSG, 1975) is an
informal export-control
regime for sensitive
technologies and
dual-use materials used
in nuclear fuel-cycle
and weapons-related
programmes. While the
purpose of the NSG is to
constrain proliferation
(reinforced by <a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=5c8ae25ba9&e=d206d0a40d"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">UN
Security Council
resolution 1540</a>),
it ends up reinforcing
technological
hierarchies. The
nuclear-armed states
dominate the informal
institutions, exercising
their authority while
insisting on restraint
from others.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<div
class="single-post--content--media-block single-post--content--image"
style="text-align:center; margin:3em 0;">
<div id="attachment_136057"
class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async"
aria-describedby="caption-attachment-136057"
class="size-full wp-image-136057 img-responsive mcRssImage"
src="https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Krassimir-Terziev-Bulgaria-Family-2015.jpg"
alt="" width="900"
srcset="https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Krassimir-Terziev-Bulgaria-Family-2015.jpg 900w, https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Krassimir-Terziev-Bulgaria-Family-2015-300x157.jpg 300w, https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Krassimir-Terziev-Bulgaria-Family-2015-768x401.jpg 768w"
sizes="auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px" border="0"
style="max-width: 100%;width: 100%;padding-bottom: 0;display: inline;vertical-align: bottom;border: 0;height: auto;outline: none;text-decoration: none;-ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic;"
moz-do-not-send="true">
<p
id="caption-attachment-136057" class="wp-caption-text"
style="text-align: center;margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;"><small>Krassimir
Terziev (Bulgaria), <i>Family</i>,
2015.</small></p>
</div>
</div>
<p align="left"
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">Some
tattered norms remain
outside the full control of
the United States, but they
are fractured and unable to
advance a comprehensive
agenda. These include:</p>
<ol>
<li
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">
<p align="left"
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;"><a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=0bddccf719&e=d206d0a40d"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true"><b>The
Treaty on the
Prohibition of
Nuclear Weapons</b></a><b>
(2017).</b> This is a
legally binding
instrument that
represents a categorical
rejection of nuclear
arms. As of late 2025,
ninety-nine countries
had either ratified or
signed the treaty, but
none of the world\u2019s nine
nuclear-armed states are
among them. In Europe,
only Austria, the Holy
See (Vatican), Ireland,
Malta, and San Marino
have ratified the
treaty. The treaty,
which was driven by the
<a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=e816d11454&e=d206d0a40d"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">International
Campaign to Abolish
Nuclear Weapons</a>,
is largely a Global
South initiative.</p>
</li>
<li
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">
<p align="left"
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;"><a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=402a4b58fd&e=d206d0a40d"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true"><b>Nuclear
Weapon Free Zones</b></a><b>.</b>
Five regions of the
world adopted treaties
to make their
territories free of
nuclear weapons. These
agreements are the
Treaty of Tlatelolco
(1967) covering Latin
America and the
Caribbean, the Treaty of
Rarotonga (1985)
covering the South
Pacific, the Treaty of
Bangkok (1995) covering
Southeast Asia, the
Treaty of Pelindaba
(1996) covering Africa,
and the Semipalatinsk
Treaty (2006) covering
Central Asia. These
treaties are, in
practice, among the most
successful achievements
in nuclear disarmament.</p>
</li>
<li
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">
<p align="left"
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;"><a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=af044a07cd&e=d206d0a40d"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true"><b>The
Comprehensive
Nuclear-Test Ban
Treaty</b></a><b>
(1996).</b> This
treaty has not been able
to enter into force
because several required
states have not ratified
it, yet it remains
politically significant
because it prohibits
nuclear test explosions
and has helped make
nuclear testing
internationally taboo.
The treaty\u2019s monitoring
system functions daily,
detecting seismic and
atmospheric signals,
making tests harder to
hide.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p align="left"
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">The
post-New START landscape
contains some institutions
and norms, but the central
restraint on the largest
nuclear arsenals has
vanished. What we have now
are three overlapping
crises:</p>
<ol>
<li
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">
<p align="left"
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;"><b>A
crisis of stability.</b>
With no transparency and
verification on the
largest nuclear weapons
arsenals there is only
suspicion between the
major powers.</p>
</li>
<li
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">
<p align="left"
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;"><b>A
crisis of legitimacy.</b>
The countries with the
largest arsenals demand
obedience to
non-proliferation while
abandoning their own
treaty commitment to
disarmament.</p>
</li>
<li
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">
<p align="left"
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;"><b>A
crisis of conscience.</b>
Horrifyingly, nuclear
weapons are now being
spoken of as being
usable, manageable, and
necessary \u2013 as
legitimate options on
the battlefield.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p align="left"
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">A
return to an arms control
regime is necessary. But we
need to consider a broader
agenda. Even the best
treaties only manage danger
but do not eliminate it. The
deeper contradiction remains
intact: a world in which a
few states claim the right
to annihilate humanity in
the name of security. The
demise of New START strips
away illusions to reveal a
nuclear weapons order that
preserves power and does not
advance peace.</p>
<p align="left"
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">Libya
abandoned its nuclear
weapons programme in
December 2003. Eight years
later, a UN Security Council
resolution (<a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=a4f6eea43a&e=d206d0a40d"
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moz-do-not-send="true">no.
1973</a>) imposing an arms
embargo and a no-fly zone
was used by NATO to justify
the military intervention
that destroyed the Libyan
state. It was logical,
therefore, for the DPRK to
test a nuclear weapon in
2006 and build a shield
against the regime-change
ambitions of the US and its
East Asian allies. The
counterforce doctrine of the
US encourages countries to
build such a shield, a
painful reality in a world
marinated in the anxieties
provoked by <a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=f563a97177&e=d206d0a40d"
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moz-do-not-send="true">hyper-imperialism</a>.</p>
<div
class="single-post--content--media-block single-post--content--image"
style="text-align:center; margin:3em 0;">
<div id="attachment_136089"
class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async"
aria-describedby="caption-attachment-136089"
class="size-large wp-image-136089 img-responsive mcRssImage"
src="https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Shin-Hak-Cheol-Korea-Planting-Rice-1987-826x1024.jpg"
alt="" width="826"
srcset="https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Shin-Hak-Cheol-Korea-Planting-Rice-1987-826x1024.jpg 826w, https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Shin-Hak-Cheol-Korea-Planting-Rice-1987-242x300.jpg 242w, https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Shin-Hak-Cheol-Korea-Planting-Rice-1987-768x952.jpg 768w, https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Shin-Hak-Cheol-Korea-Planting-Rice-1987.jpg 970w"
sizes="auto, (max-width: 826px) 100vw, 826px" border="0"
style="max-width: 100%;width: 100%;padding-bottom: 0;display: inline;vertical-align: bottom;border: 0;height: auto;outline: none;text-decoration: none;-ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic;"
moz-do-not-send="true">
<p
id="caption-attachment-136089" class="wp-caption-text"
style="text-align: center;margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;"><small>Shin
Hak-Chul (Korea), <i>Planting
Rice</i>, 1987.</small></p>
</div>
</div>
<p align="left"
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">In
2003, the British playwright
Harold Pinter (1930\u20132008),
exasperated by the Global
War on Terror, wrote a
powerful poem called \u2018The
Bombs\u2019. I remember hearing
Pinter read this poem in
London, the cadence
powerful, the hope in the
ugliness clear. In his
memory, here is the poem:</p>
<blockquote
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">
<p align="left"
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">There
are no more words to be
said<br>
All we have left are the
bombs<br>
Which burst out of our
head<br>
All that is left are the
bombs<br>
Which suck out the last of
our blood<br>
All we have left are the
bombs<br>
Which polish the skulls of
the dead.</p>
</blockquote>
<p align="left"
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">Warmly,</p>
<p align="left"
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">Vijay</p>
</span> </td>
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