12 Susanne Bauer and Tanja Penter
landslides regularly occur in this region. 45 International conflicts over nuclear
legacies could also become even more significant in the future.
In Russia, where since the 1980s and 1990s, thanks to perestroika and
glasnost’, small “corners of freedom” for environmental activists have developed, which allowed them to make a first inventory of improperly stored
nuclear waste in the Soviet Union, the Russian Government has reintroduced the old Soviet practices of concealment and secrecy for the nuclear
sector. As Tatiana Kasperski has stated, the general attitude of the government toward the problem of nuclear waste has changed significantly.
Russian politicians and even some scientists no longer see the contaminated
sites as the terrible legacy of a Soviet regime, which irresponsibly dumped
waste, thereby damaging the environment and people, but as the glorious
heritage of the military and industrial strength of a superpower. While environmental activists have once again come under the general suspicion of the
Russian government and have been accused of being and labeled as “foreign agents,” the local residents affected must continue to live in the nuclear-contaminated environments. 46 In today’s Russia, the memory of Soviet
nuclear modernity seems to again be unbroken, shaping the social reality
and everyday practices of many people.
Incidents in international affairs, such as the United States’ withdrawal
from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 2019, demonstrate
the continuing relevance and novelty of the nuclear legacies from the Cold
War until today, both in the post-Soviet space and globally. What had begun
in 1982, the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) and its agreements
of nuclear disarmament, came to halt, when on August 2, 2019, the US
administration’s withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces
treaty became effective. 47 This put an end to more than 50 years of nuclear
arms control efforts and, when it comes to the relations between Russia
and NATO, politicians and political analysts already refer to the increasing
tensions as a “new Cold War.” 48 Disarmament of nuclear weapons began
in the 1970s after two decades of Cold War between the United States and
USSR, when Strategic Arms Limitation Talks began between the then
two superpowers. Limiting, reducing, banning, keeping, and modernizing
nuclear arsenals has remained an important issue in international relations
since efforts against nuclear testing commenced in the wake of global fallout from the many atmospheric nuclear tests during the 1950s and 1960s.
The first limited ban on atmospheric nuclear testing was issued in 1963.
Until the present, however, the ratification of a comprehensive test ban on
underground nuclear tests is still ongoing. 49 Nuclear disarmament has been
subject to movements, controversies, rationalities of changing character,
and configurations. The ratification of a Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban
Treaty lacks several countries – including the United States, Israel, India,
and Pakistan, who have not ratified the treaty. 50 Despite large global movements and efforts for a UN Treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons, such as the
International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), 51 recipient
landslides regularly occur in this region. 45 International conflicts over nuclear
legacies could also become even more significant in the future.
In Russia, where since the 1980s and 1990s, thanks to perestroika and
glasnost’, small “corners of freedom” for environmental activists have developed, which allowed them to make a first inventory of improperly stored
nuclear waste in the Soviet Union, the Russian Government has reintroduced the old Soviet practices of concealment and secrecy for the nuclear
sector. As Tatiana Kasperski has stated, the general attitude of the government toward the problem of nuclear waste has changed significantly.
Russian politicians and even some scientists no longer see the contaminated
sites as the terrible legacy of a Soviet regime, which irresponsibly dumped
waste, thereby damaging the environment and people, but as the glorious
heritage of the military and industrial strength of a superpower. While environmental activists have once again come under the general suspicion of the
Russian government and have been accused of being and labeled as “foreign agents,” the local residents affected must continue to live in the nuclear-contaminated environments. 46 In today’s Russia, the memory of Soviet
nuclear modernity seems to again be unbroken, shaping the social reality
and everyday practices of many people.
Incidents in international affairs, such as the United States’ withdrawal
from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 2019, demonstrate
the continuing relevance and novelty of the nuclear legacies from the Cold
War until today, both in the post-Soviet space and globally. What had begun
in 1982, the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) and its agreements
of nuclear disarmament, came to halt, when on August 2, 2019, the US
administration’s withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces
treaty became effective. 47 This put an end to more than 50 years of nuclear
arms control efforts and, when it comes to the relations between Russia
and NATO, politicians and political analysts already refer to the increasing
tensions as a “new Cold War.” 48 Disarmament of nuclear weapons began
in the 1970s after two decades of Cold War between the United States and
USSR, when Strategic Arms Limitation Talks began between the then
two superpowers. Limiting, reducing, banning, keeping, and modernizing
nuclear arsenals has remained an important issue in international relations
since efforts against nuclear testing commenced in the wake of global fallout from the many atmospheric nuclear tests during the 1950s and 1960s.
The first limited ban on atmospheric nuclear testing was issued in 1963.
Until the present, however, the ratification of a comprehensive test ban on
underground nuclear tests is still ongoing. 49 Nuclear disarmament has been
subject to movements, controversies, rationalities of changing character,
and configurations. The ratification of a Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban
Treaty lacks several countries – including the United States, Israel, India,
and Pakistan, who have not ratified the treaty. 50 Despite large global movements and efforts for a UN Treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons, such as the
International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), 51 recipient