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Reichman University and Abba Eban Institute for Diplomacy & Foreign Relations

The War in Ukraine: Implications for Global Arms Race & WMD Proliferation

  • Jun 26, 2022
  • 2 min read

Updated: Apr 16


Introduction Almost two months since hostilities erupted, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has already become the largest armed conflict on European soil since the end of World War Two. In addition to the extensive human suffering and the tragic loss of life, the widespread destruction of infrastructure in Ukraine, and the largest refugee crisis in the continent since the 1940s, the war has already disrupted international security and the international system in profound ways. Few now doubt it will have a lasting impact on the future trajectory of world events for years to come.


The Ukraine war has highlighted the dominance of current superpower rivalry, while further discrediting the United Nations as an organization capable of upholding global peace. It has disrupted critical supply chains and caused potential food security challenges in many regions across the globe; further eroded trust in American global leadership; brought back nuclear weapons rhetoric; and is likely to have reignited a global arms race. These last two issues are the focus of this paper.


Ukrainian flag waving in the wind

On 26 April 2022, the Abba Eban Institute for International Diplomacy at Reichman University convened a special online discussion, titled “The War in Ukraine: Implications for Global Arms Race & WMD Proliferation.” A team of international experts weighed in on possible developments in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the possibility of an accelerated global arms race, both triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.


Below are the main insights that emerged from the discussion, which focus on the erosion of international norms regarding the non-use of nuclear weapons, the erosion of the NPT regime, and the intensification of a global conventional arms race. On the conceptual level, an important conclusion from the discussion is that, following the Ukraine war, research into international security should not treat these issues independently of one another; instead, policymakers and researchers must integrate the consideration of those issues and their linkages.


Read the full conclusions & insights following a webinar discussion:





 
 
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