Is Macron Greenlighting a New US-Led Nuclear Arms Race?
Be honest—this is ridiculous.
Log In
Email *
Password *
Remember Me
Forgot Your Password?
Log In
New to The Nation? Subscribe
Print subscriber? Activate your online access
Skip to content Skip to footer
Is Macron Greenlighting a New US-Led Nuclear Arms Race?
Magazine
Newsletters
Subscribe
Log In
Search
Subscribe
Donate
Magazine
Latest
Archive
Podcasts
Newsletters
Sections
Politics
World
Economy
Culture
Books & the Arts
The Nation
About
Events
Contact Us
Advertise
Current Issue
March 17, 2026
Is Macron Greenlighting a New US-Led Nuclear Arms Race?
As the global arms control regime collapses, France plans to expand and Europeanize its nuclear arsenal.
Harrison Stetler
Share
Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Email
Ad Policy
France’s President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech next to the nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine Le Téméraire during his visit to the Nuclear Submarine Navy Base of Ile Longue in Crozon, northwestern France, on March 2, 2026.(Yoan Valat / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)
French President Emmanuel Macron’s March 2 address on France’s nuclear arms doctrine ought to be remembered for what it did not provide: a robust call for European diplomacy, amid the collapse of the arms control regime that once bound the United States and Russia. International treaties to limit stockpiles of nuclear weapons and control the risk of conflict were now “a field of ruins,” according to France’s president: “The prevailing animosity does not inspire the confidence required to rebuild the norms of collective security. That is why we are right to harden our position.”
With the expiration of the New START treaty last month, for the first time in decades no formal agreement limits the size of the nuclear arsenals deployed by the two leading nuclear powers. Signed in 2010 by then–Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama, New START limited US and Russian nuclear arsenals at 1550 deployed warheads per country. It now joins the growing list of abandoned agreements: In 2002, Washington withdrew from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty; in 2023, Russia left the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty.
All the ingredients are there for a reckless resumption of the nuclear arms race. Even within the terms of New START, both the United States and Russia had embarked on a costly modernization of their nuclear arsenals. There is now talk of the agreement’s tacit extension—the treaty was extended for five years in 2021—but that could prove a dead letter. Donald Trump’s complaint is that the expired framework does not include the US’s main geopolitical rival, China, currently in the throes of a significant expansion of its stockpile. In the grim world of nuclear theorizing, the fear for Washington is that the US could find itself facing not one but two peer rivals—in a race for ever more extravagant quantities of unusable weapons.
“The end of New START is certainly a regrettable step, but it’s by no means the only one,” said Alicia Sanders-Zakre, head of policy at the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). “Nuclear armed states like Russia and Israel are waging wars of aggression. The US-Israeli …
Be honest—this is ridiculous.
Log In
Email *
Password *
Remember Me
Forgot Your Password?
Log In
New to The Nation? Subscribe
Print subscriber? Activate your online access
Skip to content Skip to footer
Is Macron Greenlighting a New US-Led Nuclear Arms Race?
Magazine
Newsletters
Subscribe
Log In
Search
Subscribe
Donate
Magazine
Latest
Archive
Podcasts
Newsletters
Sections
Politics
World
Economy
Culture
Books & the Arts
The Nation
About
Events
Contact Us
Advertise
Current Issue
March 17, 2026
Is Macron Greenlighting a New US-Led Nuclear Arms Race?
As the global arms control regime collapses, France plans to expand and Europeanize its nuclear arsenal.
Harrison Stetler
Share
Copy Link
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Ad Policy
France’s President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech next to the nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine Le Téméraire during his visit to the Nuclear Submarine Navy Base of Ile Longue in Crozon, northwestern France, on March 2, 2026.(Yoan Valat / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)
French President Emmanuel Macron’s March 2 address on France’s nuclear arms doctrine ought to be remembered for what it did not provide: a robust call for European diplomacy, amid the collapse of the arms control regime that once bound the United States and Russia. International treaties to limit stockpiles of nuclear weapons and control the risk of conflict were now “a field of ruins,” according to France’s president: “The prevailing animosity does not inspire the confidence required to rebuild the norms of collective security. That is why we are right to harden our position.”
With the expiration of the New START treaty last month, for the first time in decades no formal agreement limits the size of the nuclear arsenals deployed by the two leading nuclear powers. Signed in 2010 by then–Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama, New START limited US and Russian nuclear arsenals at 1550 deployed warheads per country. It now joins the growing list of abandoned agreements: In 2002, Washington withdrew from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty; in 2023, Russia left the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty.
All the ingredients are there for a reckless resumption of the nuclear arms race. Even within the terms of New START, both the United States and Russia had embarked on a costly modernization of their nuclear arsenals. There is now talk of the agreement’s tacit extension—the treaty was extended for five years in 2021—but that could prove a dead letter. Donald Trump’s complaint is that the expired framework does not include the US’s main geopolitical rival, China, currently in the throes of a significant expansion of its stockpile. In the grim world of nuclear theorizing, the fear for Washington is that the US could find itself facing not one but two peer rivals—in a race for ever more extravagant quantities of unusable weapons.
“The end of New START is certainly a regrettable step, but it’s by no means the only one,” said Alicia Sanders-Zakre, head of policy at the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). “Nuclear armed states like Russia and Israel are waging wars of aggression. The US-Israeli …
Is Macron Greenlighting a New US-Led Nuclear Arms Race?
Be honest—this is ridiculous.
Log In
Email *
Password *
Remember Me
Forgot Your Password?
Log In
New to The Nation? Subscribe
Print subscriber? Activate your online access
Skip to content Skip to footer
Is Macron Greenlighting a New US-Led Nuclear Arms Race?
Magazine
Newsletters
Subscribe
Log In
Search
Subscribe
Donate
Magazine
Latest
Archive
Podcasts
Newsletters
Sections
Politics
World
Economy
Culture
Books & the Arts
The Nation
About
Events
Contact Us
Advertise
Current Issue
March 17, 2026
Is Macron Greenlighting a New US-Led Nuclear Arms Race?
As the global arms control regime collapses, France plans to expand and Europeanize its nuclear arsenal.
Harrison Stetler
Share
Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Email
Ad Policy
France’s President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech next to the nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine Le Téméraire during his visit to the Nuclear Submarine Navy Base of Ile Longue in Crozon, northwestern France, on March 2, 2026.(Yoan Valat / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)
French President Emmanuel Macron’s March 2 address on France’s nuclear arms doctrine ought to be remembered for what it did not provide: a robust call for European diplomacy, amid the collapse of the arms control regime that once bound the United States and Russia. International treaties to limit stockpiles of nuclear weapons and control the risk of conflict were now “a field of ruins,” according to France’s president: “The prevailing animosity does not inspire the confidence required to rebuild the norms of collective security. That is why we are right to harden our position.”
With the expiration of the New START treaty last month, for the first time in decades no formal agreement limits the size of the nuclear arsenals deployed by the two leading nuclear powers. Signed in 2010 by then–Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama, New START limited US and Russian nuclear arsenals at 1550 deployed warheads per country. It now joins the growing list of abandoned agreements: In 2002, Washington withdrew from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty; in 2023, Russia left the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty.
All the ingredients are there for a reckless resumption of the nuclear arms race. Even within the terms of New START, both the United States and Russia had embarked on a costly modernization of their nuclear arsenals. There is now talk of the agreement’s tacit extension—the treaty was extended for five years in 2021—but that could prove a dead letter. Donald Trump’s complaint is that the expired framework does not include the US’s main geopolitical rival, China, currently in the throes of a significant expansion of its stockpile. In the grim world of nuclear theorizing, the fear for Washington is that the US could find itself facing not one but two peer rivals—in a race for ever more extravagant quantities of unusable weapons.
“The end of New START is certainly a regrettable step, but it’s by no means the only one,” said Alicia Sanders-Zakre, head of policy at the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). “Nuclear armed states like Russia and Israel are waging wars of aggression. The US-Israeli …
0 Comments
0 Shares
32 Views
0 Reviews
