Nuclear Deterrence and Disarmament in a Polycentric World

Abstract

The experience of 60 years of nuclear arms control has been quite a success except one aspect – transition from a bilateral (the U.S.A. ‒ U.S.S.R/Russia) to a multilateral format of limitation and reduction of nuclear arsenals. The reason has been a mistaken approach to a multilateral disarmament, which did not take into account a specific nature of multilateral nuclear deterrence among nuclear states. From now on, a transition to a multilateral format is becoming an indispensable condition for rescue of the system of nuclear disarmament and its adjustment to a polycentric world order, so that it does not turn into a nuclear chaos.

Keywords

• nuclear deterrence
• nuclear disarmament
• multilateral world order
• nuclear proliferation
• nuclear arms limitation treaties