Nuclear security

World nuclear forces: who has what?

Since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, nuclear weapons have been detonated on over two thousand occasions for the purposes of testing and demonstration. With world events more uncertain than ever before, an in-depth look at nations’ nuclear capabilities (and intentions) is crucial to security services and diplomats all over the world. At the start of 2016, nine states — the US, Russia, the UK, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea — possessed approximately 15,395 nuclear weapons. Overall inventories of nuclear warheads are declining (primarily due to the USA and Russia reducing their holdings), but the global pace of reductions is slowing.