The Importance of Parity and Assured Disposal

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The US, Russia and China are now the three major nuclear powers. The problem when you move from two powers to three is that parity and assured destruction become much more difficult to achieve. "It's kind of the Red Queen's race in Nalas and Wonderland," says Peter Bergen.

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.

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