World Officially Runs Out of Nuclear Detente, Ideas, and Patience Simultaneously
KEY POINTS
- •The New START treaty between the U.S. and Russia officially expires tomorrow, ending five years of extended nuclear arms inspections.
- •Experts like Kingston Reif and Rose Gottemoeller warn this could increase nuclear risk amid pandemic interruptions, the Ukraine war, and Trump’s China demands.
- •While 91% of voters want new deals, America’s aging missile systems lag behind and European leaders debate deterrence topics without the U.S. involvement.
Tomorrow marks the nuclear cliff dive as New START expires, ending the era of mutual peek-a-boo inspections on the world’s biggest atomic sibling rivalry: the U.S. and Russia. Kingston Reif mourns what he calls 'the end of an era' that somehow survived pandemic pauses, Russian troop parades in Ukraine, and Trump’s insistence that China join the party — if only as a plus-one with a smaller, growing bomb collection. Rose Gottemoeller optimistically suggested Trump could get a new treaty through the Senate — because apparently, presidents love proving they’re "saving humanity" while betting it all on shaky handshakes. Meanwhile, U.S. voters insist they want nukes capped, though most couldn’t spell START if their life depended on it. Sentinel missiles and Columbia subs remain fashionably late to the nuclear arms party, all while Europe sips tea nervously without Washington's reassuring grimace.
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New START’s dead, nukes still ready to flex, and Trump wants more testing because apparently diplomacy now means handshakes and nuclear jeopardy.
Five more years of nukes under a treaty ending just as Russia invades and Trump demands China’s approval proves diplomacy is the world’s most expensive group chat mute.
The U.S. and Russia just ghosted their own nuclear limits; now we wait for the sequel featuring subs years behind schedule and awkward handshakes.
Source: Axios | Published: 2/4/2026 | Author: Colin Demarest
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