CRISIS OF THE NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTROL SYSTEM: CHALLENGES OF THE 21ST CENTURY AND RISKS OF THE FUTURE

Abstract

The article analyzes and discusses the issue of the crisis of the nuclear weapons control system, as well as the challenges of the 21st century and risks of the future in the context of shocks and destabilization of the current architecture of the global security system. The research conducted on this issue is a component of the scientific research "Formation of a new global security system: the Russian-Ukrainian war as a factor in the evolution of world politics." Researching analytical reports, documents, international agreements, legislative acts, scientific positions made it possible to analyze the regular trends in the evolution of the nuclear weapons control system. It describes the crisis points that led to destabilization in the nuclear weapons control system and outlines the challenges of the 21st century and future risks in the context of the imperfection of nuclear weapons control, as well as a possible way out of the crisis that occurred in the world control system over the nuclear component (nuclear weapons, nuclear energy). The study conducted in terms of the evolution of the nuclear weapons control system allowed the author to conclude that taking into account the complex stages of the evolution of the issue of nuclear weapons control, from the end of the Cold War to the post-Cold War era, from Reykjavik (1986) to Helsinki (1997), became years of progress in the field of nuclear weapons control in various directions. In the first half of the nuclear era, there was a slow, uneven, but massive evolution from tense and unregulated competition to subsequent more regulated, controlled nuclear environment, in which nuclear arsenals were limited by treaties and the proliferation of nuclear weapons was prohibited by the NPT, which acquired the status of indefinite and imposed legal obligations on participants. However, in the 21st century, the winds have changed, and the architecture of the nuclear weapons control system has begun to shake. And today it has reached its maximum crisis, caused by the imperfection of the architecture of the global security system and the unwillingness of leading global actors to change it, which resulted in the full-scale war on the European continent, the Russian-Ukrainian war, in 2022. As a result, the war of Russia against Ukraine made countries that do not possess nuclear weapons think about its development or the conclusion of agreements with countries that possess it for placement on their territory. It should be noted that these trends are extremely dangerous because they will lead to an increase in the number of nuclear states in the world, and we cannot forget about terrorist organizations. Therefore, nuclear weapons will begin to spread uncontrollably around the planet, becoming a means of protecting sovereignty and an attribute of special status. The author highlights that the violation of the global security system due to the Russian-Ukrainian war has brought the issue of nuclear weapon use to a new level. The article summarizes the need for a review of the existing global security system with a focus on the formation of a new system for controlling the nuclear component (nuclear weapons, atomic energy).