Following Obama, Biden Also Declassifies Documents... Effectiveness in Question
The U.S. government is reported to possess over 3,700 nuclear weapons.
According to a declassified report released on the 23rd by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) under the U.S. Department of Energy, the total number of nuclear warheads held by the United States as of September 2023 is 3,748.
This represents an 88% decrease from the peak number of 31,255 warheads at the end of fiscal year 1967. Compared to 1989, the end of the Cold War marked by the fall of the Berlin Wall in Germany, the number has decreased by 83%.
The nuclear stockpile includes warheads ready for immediate deployment as well as warheads stored in arsenals with some components removed.
The level of disclosure regarding the nuclear stockpile depends on the administration's judgment. Democratic President Joe Biden released nuclear weapons-related data in his first year in office in 2021, but subsequently classified the information and denied requests for disclosure during fiscal years 2021?2023.
Former Democratic President Barack Obama, who aimed for a "world without nuclear weapons," significantly increased nuclear transparency during his tenure from 2009 to 2017.
In contrast, former Republican President Donald Trump reclassified the nuclear stockpile as classified after taking office in 2017.
The NNSA stated, "Enhancing transparency of nuclear stockpiles among countries is important for commitments under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), as well as for non-proliferation and disarmament efforts."
However, there are criticisms that the U.S. government's nuclear transparency policy is ineffective. Allied nuclear-armed countries such as the United Kingdom and France have lowered the classification level regarding their nuclear arsenals. On the other hand, it is generally viewed as unlikely that China and Russia, which are in opposition to the U.S., will follow this trend.
According to the 2024 yearbook of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a Swedish think tank, China's nuclear warhead count increased from 410 last year to 500 this year. Russia is also known to be pursuing nuclear capability enhancement despite various international regulations. In April, at the United Nations Security Council, Russia opposed and China abstained from a U.S.-proposed resolution banning the deployment of nuclear weapons in space.
Furthermore, with the increasing likelihood of former President Trump winning re-election in the U.S. presidential election, there are concerns that the entire system itself is at a crossroads.
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