NUCLEAR GEOSTRATEGY OF THE POST-COLD WAR ERA

Abstract

The use of nuclear energy has changed the world's geopolitical and geostrategic landscape irreversibly, distinguishing another attribute of "high power", namely that of nuclear power, which not only means the possession of a nuclear arsenal, but also trade in civil nuclear technology (nuclear reactors for electricity generation) placing the selling state and the buyer in a geopolitical relationship. What's new? The emergence of a new nuclear military power, China, perceived as a "growing tiger", and new exporters of civil nuclear technology, Russia and China, which now concentrate 2/3 of reactor construction in the world after the long period of the Cold War when the global civilian nuclear energy market was dominated by the US.