Washington has withdrawn from its “Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty” with Moscow. Now, the Unites States is set to test a new cruise missile that would otherwise have been banned under the long-standing deal between the US and Russia. To help Canadians understand what this means for the world, MLI Research Advisory Board Member Elliot Tepper appeared on CTV.
Tepper is pessimistic about what he considers an erosion of part of the framework that has helped reduce the number of weapons of mass destruction. He argues that this most recent decision to move away from the deal could risk devolving into an arms race and increase the chances of disastrous miscalculation.
“The reality is, we have reached the capacity long ago to eliminate ourselves as species with our technology,” Tepper explains. “[Our capacity to put the brakes on this] is what’s being tested today… and it doesn’t look good.”
Tepper warns that this fits into a pattern of escalating nuclear dangers, not only with the US and Russia, but also with Iran, North Korea, and others. For Canada, this means that we may be heading toward a “more nuclear,” and therefore more dangerous, world.
