Stockholm –
The role of nuclear weapons has become more prominent, and nuclear states are modernizing arsenals as geopolitical ties deteriorate, researchers said Monday, urging world leaders to “step back and think.”
Diplomatic efforts to control nuclear weapons also suffered major setbacks amid tense international relations over the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in its annual yearbook.
“We have not seen nuclear weapons play such a prominent role in international relations since the Cold War,” Wilfred Wan, director of SIPRI’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Program, said in a statement.
