The Disruptor-in-Chief Wrecks the Nuclear Arms Control Architecture

Abstract

President Donald Trump’s narcissistic personality, abrasive style, and disdain for international institutions and rules make him the disruptor-in-chief of the global order, including the nuclear order. US nuclear policies both reflect and fuel the fraying regimes, provoking countermeasures by adversaries, sowing doubts in allies, and stiffening support among the non-nuclear states for the Ban Treaty. This chapter examines the effect of the Trump administration’s nuclear policies on four categories of states: the potential nuclear adversaries, in particular Russia and China; US allies in Europe and the Pacific that are dependent on the US nuclear umbrella for their own security; the two major countries of proliferation concern over the past decade, namely, Iran and North Korea; and the non-nuclear weapon states that are outside the nuclear umbrella of the nine countries with the bomb.