CMS Research Seminar: Surviving the Third Nuclear Age

Our nuclear world is as dangerous today as it has been for at least a generation.  The nuclear-armed “great powers” appear increasingly locked in geopolitical competition as the world moves from a unipolar to multipolar system; rapid technological change is creating the potential for enhanced nuclear and non-nuclear strategic weapons with different and destabilising mission sets; international norms, consensus and arms control edifices that have formed the bedrock of the global nuclear order are slowly eroding; state and especially NGO-based disarmament activism is on the rise at the same time as interest in - and the salience of - nuclear technology for both military and non-military purposes is firmly back on the political agenda; and we increasingly see a set of very different and contested visions of the nuclear future.  Arguably, the global nuclear order – and the nuclear peace that this order is ostensibly designed to maintain – is under more pressure than ever.  

Together with Professor of International Politics at the University of Leicester, Andrew Futter, we will discuss how these conditions lay the foundation for a new nuclear age, and what it will require to survive it. The seminar is moderated by Professor Maria Mälksoo, Centre for Military Studies, Department of Political Science.

When: Wednesday, 12 June at 14:00-15:30.

Where: CSS, Øster Farimagsgade 5, 1353 København K, Room 7.0.34 (Building 7, ground floor).

Register no later than 11 June here [Registration is closed]

Andrew Futter is PI on the European Research Council funded “Third Nuclear Age” project.  He has written widely on a range of nuclear issues for over a decade, including the recent books “Hacking the Bomb” (2018), “The Politics of Nuclear Weapons” (2021) and “The Implications of Emerging Technologies in the Euro-Atlantic Space” (2023). Andrew’s  work plays a key role in shaping the climate of ideas around nuclear policy, and has been used by governments, global civil society groups and professional organisations seeking to raise awareness of and better combat nuclear risks.