Sir Stephen Lovegrove said the de-escalation mechanisms created during the Cold War between the West and the Soviet Union were no longer sufficient to prevent conflict.
of Thanasis Gavou
The world is entering a “dangerous new era of proliferation” of chemical and biological weapons, nuclear warheads, directed energy weapons, drones, systems in space, targeted genetic and cyber weapons, raising the specter of “sliding into uncontrolled conflict ,” warned the UK’s chief national security adviser, Sir Stephen Lovegrove.
To prevent such a development, controls will have to be imposed on the proliferation of these weapons which are increasingly easy to acquire and not just by governments and national armies.
At the same time, new methods of conflict prevention should be adopted, the British official said in a speech in the US, in a rare and extremely candid public presentation at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Sir Stephen Lovegrove said the de-escalation mechanisms created during the Cold War between the West and the Soviet Union were no longer sufficient to prevent conflict.
As he added indicatively, Britain has “clear concerns” that Beijing is expanding and modernizing its nuclear arsenal, while maintaining an attitude of “contempt” for arms control agreements. This combination creates a “frightening” prospect and raises the possibility of a West-China nuclear war “by miscalculation”.
Making further specific reference to China’s nuclear weapons program and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Mr Lovegrove commented: “We have to be honest – strategic stability is at risk.”
As he added, “we need to start thinking about the new security order” with “urgent” consideration of two key elements that contributed to keeping the peace after World War II.
The first element was the ability of Western allies to deter enemy attacks, and the second element was the network of international agreements to control the spread of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.
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