In the context of a deteriorating security environment, the new American Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) parts ways with the stated intention of reducing the role of nuclear weapons, which dominated the previous NPR and had served as a general guideline for American nuclear policy since the end of the Cold War. The review has been heavily criticized, especially with regards to the new “supplements” proposed for the current non-strategic arsenal. These “supplements” aim to restore deterrence against potential adversaries that have not ruled out recourse to a nuclear option to compensate for disadvantages in conventional forces. However, these supplements have been criticized for lowering the threshold for nuclear use and thus increasing the risk of escalation from a conventional conflict to a nuclear exchange. Beyond this debate, which appears to fall into a historic cleavage between two different American nuclear schools of thought, the question arises about the future of the nuclear order, while the bilateral process of arms control is struggling to survive.

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