UK Defense Chief: World is entering "third nuclear age"

International

THE head of the United Kingdom’s armed forces has warned that the world is heading to a “third nuclear age."

Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, during a lecture at the UK’s Royal United Services Institute, said this nuclear age is “defined by multiple and concurrent dilemmas, proliferating nuclear and disruptive technologies, and the almost total absence of the security architectures that went before.”

He said global power is changing, warning everyone that this era is “altogether more complex” than those before.

Cautions were made by Radakin following several developments like Iran’s failure in cooperating with international efforts to limit the nuclear program; Russia’s threats on nuclear retaliation against United States and the West over the country's support for Ukraine, and China’s plan to build nuclear stockpiles as it aims to become one of the fully-fledged nuclear competitors.

The first nuclear age, according to Radakin, was during the Cold War when the Soviet Union and the U.S. rivalry emerged for supremacy that lasted for decades, wherein the two powerful nations antagonized each other from the economic aid, propaganda, and arms build-up, among others. The second nuclear age was after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 during the peaceful revolution that reshaped the modern world.

“The world has changed. Global power is shifting and a third nuclear age is upon us,” Radakin said.

However, Radakin believes that there is only a remote chance of a significant direct attack or invasion by Russia against NATO.

“The strategy of deterrence by NATO works and is working,” the chief of Britain’s defense force said, adding that this strategy “has to be kept strong “ against Russia, and NATO countries must be ahead to prevent any further escalation.

As to Britain, it is keeping one submarine armed with nuclear missiles in case there’s a need to respond to a nuclear attack. The government is also making a review on its strategies on defenses not letting its guard down.(LAO)