Nuclear weapons have the potential to obliterate whole societies. An enormous amount of effort has been devoted to making sure they are deterred. The challenge is a tri-polar system, how to avoid it and if we can't, how to ensure that deterrence holds. We're back with Dr. Andrew Crepenevich for more on this story.
For decades, a delicate strategy of deterrence kept Russia and the US from nuclear war. With China upping its nuclear ambitions, things are about to get a lot more complicated.
This episode was produced by Amanda Lewellyn, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Michael Raphael, and hosted by Noel King.
Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained
Support Today, Explained by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices