How to take Putin’s nuclear threats | Global Eyes

Shortly before his latest re-election, Russian President Vladimir Putin again hinted at the use of nuclear weapons, saying “weapons exist to be used.” Normally a threat to go nuclear from the head of state of the country with the largest nuclear stockpile in the world should be concerning if not terrifying. But this is the first time Putin has rattled Russia’s nuclear sabers, and is unlikely to be last. How serious is he, how much do these repeated threats normalize the use of what had been, especially in the Cold War, a taboo subject? That the subject of DW’s security podcast Global Eyes this time. Hosts Isha Bhatia Sanan and William Glucroft were joined by Narushige Michishita of Japan’s National Graduate Research Institute for Policy Studies and Reshmi Kazi of the Nelson Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution in New Delhi. They examined Putin’s latest threats and how the West might respond, as well as nuclear modernization in China, India, North Korea, proliferation and the potential for arms control.