Nuclear Weapons and the Future of American Power

James M. Acton and Ankit Panda | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Nuclear weapons so defined international politics in the second half of the twentieth century that this period came to be called the nuclear age. The salience of these weapons waned after the collapse of the Soviet Union but is once again rapidly rising as competition between the United States and its two primary rivals, China and Russia, intensifies. While other forms of power are more important today than they were during the Cold War, the ability of nuclear weapons to kill and destroy on an unparalleled—frankly unimaginable—scale still constitutes power in its rawest, most undiluted form. 

Why China Fired a Long-Range Missile Into the Pacific

Chris Buckley | The New York Times

The missile test on Monday came after China’s military has been battered for years by mass removals of commanders accused of corruption and disloyalty. But Chinese media declared that the test showed the country remained on track to create a full nuclear triad; that is, a range of land-, air- and sea-based weapons that could give Beijing a stronger hand in a regional crisis or war with the United States. Chinese officials have been muted about the test and its implications. Not the Global Times, a Chinese newspaper controlled by the Communist Party. “Our national nuclear triad had another upgrade,” the paper said in an article on Tuesday. “The Liberation Army’s sea-based nuclear force is capable of carrying out stable, reliable strategic counterstrikes from anywhere in the vast open seas of the Pacific Ocean,” it said, citing a Chinese expert. That claim is hyperbole: China is still some way from operating nuclear-armed submarines undetected and wherever it likes. Even so, the test indicated that China is expanding its undersea nuclear ambitions, and shedding its reluctance to test missiles in international skies and oceans, despite the scrutiny and alarm such exercises set off, several experts said.

Satellite Image Analysis: China’s Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Facility Begins Operation — Progress Toward Establishing a Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Yuki Kobayashi | Sasakawa Peace Foundation

Satellite imagery has confirmed that the first plant of a nuclear fuel reprocessing facility under construction in inland Gansu Province, China, has likely commenced operation. Since January 2026, periodic emissions of steam have been observed from steam-generating equipment adjacent to the plant.[1] A reprocessing facility chemically treats spent nuclear fuel used in reactors, separating and recovering plutonium and uranium for reuse as nuclear fuel. Because heat is required in this process, systems such as boilers operate to generate thermal energy, resulting in regular steam emissions. The start of operations at this reprocessing facility indicates that China has taken a step forward toward establishing a nuclear fuel cycle.

PM Takaichi Suggests 'Three Non-Nuclear Principles' Could Be Subject to Discussion, Signaling Potential Review of 'Nuclear Ban'

Park Won-gyeong | SBS World News

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has signaled that the possibility of reviewing provisions such as the ban on the introduction of nuclear weapons remains open, stating that all tasks will be discussed regarding the "Three Non-Nuclear Principles," which are drawing the most attention among the contents of the three major security documents currently being pushed for revision by the end of the year. According to local media including the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) on July 7, Prime Minister Takaichi said at the Settlement and Administrative Oversight Committee of the House of Councillors of the National Diet the previous day that she would "certainly bring all issues to the table for discussion" regarding the revision of the three major security documents. She gave this response when asked by lawmaker Matsuzawa Shigefumi of the Japan Innovation Party about the necessity of discussing a review of the Three Non-Nuclear Principles. The Three Non-Nuclear Principles, which state that Japan will "not possess, not manufacture, and not permit the introduction of nuclear weapons," are considered one of Japan's national policies and a fundamental security principle.

Ships attacked in the Strait of Hormuz: What that means for ongoing talks

Sarah Shamim | Al Jazeera

A tanker caught fire off the coast of Oman on Monday night after being struck by an “unknown projectile” in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO). Separately citing two unnamed US officials, news outlet Axios reported that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fired at least two missiles at commercial ships transiting through the strait on Monday night. The report added that two ships suffered significant damage but there were no casualties. It is unclear if one of the ships is the same one reported on by UKMTO. The reports of attacks on shipping in the strait come as sensitive peace negotiations continue between the United States and Iran to bring a lasting end to their war.

The Third Nuclear Age: Complexity, Contestation, and the Evolution of Global Order

Andrew Futter | Oxford University Press

Eighty years after nuclear weapons were first detonated over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the world has entered a new, more dangerous, contested, and complex era—a Third Nuclear Age. Rapid technological changes in weapons systems and across the nuclear information space are reshaping the dynamics of deterrence, escalation, and proliferation. These shifts are unfolding alongside a transition towards a more fragmented and multipolar international system, the potential erosion of the liberal international order, and the breakdown of arms control regimes and shared norms of nuclear responsibility and restraint. At the same time, growing interest in nuclear technologies to meet climate, development, and scientific demands, combined with divergent visions of the nuclear future across societies, signals that nuclear politics have again become a defining feature of the Anthropocene.