PRESIDENT Trump has repeatedly called for renewed US nuclear weapon testing.

Though he claimed—incorrectly—that the US will resume testing due to China, Russia, North Korea and Pakistan’s clandestine nuclear tests, he is interested in advancing his country’s nuclear arsenal as part of Washington’s drive for significant changes in its military. Vice President JD Vance and some Republicans in Congress endorsed Trump’s determination to resume nuclear testing. Indeed, the US resumption of nuclear testing could be a harbinger of a new era of international nuclear politics, a development of grave significance. Hypothetically speaking, the new era’s first casualty could be the demise of the 20th-century nuclear non-proliferation regime (NNPR), an increasing number of nuclear-armed states, fabrication and integration of emerging destructive technologies to advance the lethality of the nukes, recalibration of nuclear doctrines influenced by a multipolar strategic environment, discredit of nuclear-taboo and amplifying nuclear risks due to accidents and inadvertent use of nuclear weapons. This could lead to a significant shift in the global nuclear stability, potentially increasing the risk of nuclear conflict.

The NNPR regime has played a pivotal role in nuclear arms control, effectively institutionalizing extended nuclear deterrence to prevent the latent nuclear-weapon states from developing their own indigenous nuclear deterrence potential. However, the rapid transformation in the global........

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