With Vladimir Putin putting Russia’s nuclear deterrent on high alert, could the war take an atomic turn? Or is this merely a tactical move from the Kremlin? And what could the Ukraine crisis mean for nuclear policy in the coming years?

Dr Laura Considine, politics professor at Leeds University, joins Arthur Snell to explain the history of nuclear proliferation, atomic weapons in the context of the Russia-Ukraine crisis, and the direction of nuclear policy in the coming years.

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• “North Korea developed its nuclear weapons secretly while party to the non-proliferation treaty.”
• “What we’re seeing here is nuclear weapons being used as a means of enabling aggression.”
• “A lot of tactical nuclear weapons are bigger than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.”
• “Deterrence is all about what didn’t happen, and it’s very hard to analyse what hasn’t occurred.”

DOOMSDAY WATCH was written and presented by Arthur Snell, and produced by Robin Leeburn with Jacob Archbold. Theme tune and original music by Paul Hartnoll. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. DOOMSDAY WATCH is a Podmasters

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