After New START: Ban The Bomb – OpEd

The New START treaty expired on February 5, 2026, marking what many see as a dangerous shift in global security. The last accord limiting U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals—together nearly 90 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons—ended. Commentators warned of a “strategic vacuum.” Arms-control experts spoke of lost safeguards, and diplomats called for renewed talks to avoid a new nuclear arms race.

These warnings are valid, yet they barely scratch the surface of a far more profound crisis.