https://www.scmp.com/rss/519933/feed Dan Plesch is professor of diplomacy and strategy at SOAS University of London, the founder of the British American Security Information Council in Washington DC, and a "door tenant" at the legal chambers of 9 Bedford Row, in London. He has acted as adviser to the UK and US governments, the BBC, CNN and Sky News. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Dan Plesch,Manuel Galileo Dan Plesch,Manuel Galileo In nuclear war, the long-held assumption of mutual assured destruction no longer exists. Welcome to the age of permanent strategic instability, where superpowers mix fast and accurate nuclear and non-nuclear missiles in the same arsenal. The risk of war is greater than many realise. The scale of catastrophe is also significant. A potential nuclear winter is estimated to amount to billions of deaths from starvation after years of global crop failures. Such risks and consequences are disastrously... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3334240/why-advances-conventional-weapons-tech-should-worry-china-russia-and-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3334240/why-advances-conventional-weapons-tech-should-worry-china-russia-and-us?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Nov 2025 12:30:15 +0000 In theory, China’s launchers of strategic nuclear missiles – jet or rocket-propelled weapons meant to strike targets far away and which are nuclear-armed – can be preventively taken out by the United States and its allies using conventional, non-nuclear firepower. Even as the gap between US and Chinese strategic capabilities appears to be narrowing, the US is extending its superiority in one important category: strategic counterforce with conventional missiles. Counterforce is a doctrine often... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3282487/us-china-russia-strategic-stability-hangs-balance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3282487/us-china-russia-strategic-stability-hangs-balance?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Oct 2024 12:30:09 +0000