False Twins
Intergenerational Injustice in Nuclear Deterrence and Climate Inaction
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7154647 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Franziska Stärk (0009-0000-0664-3013, Universität Hamburg, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 945-954 |
| Publication date | 2025-11-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Global Policy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1758-5880 • E-ISSN: 1758-5899 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/1758-5899.70097 |
| OpenAlex | W4414528585 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 63 |
Nuclear deterrence and climate inaction wrong future generations by imposing potential existential harm through climate‐related disasters and nuclear winter. While increasingly explored in tandem, key differences in their intergenerational justice dimensions are overlooked. First, the timelines for imposing harm differ. Climate risks cumulate and intensify across generations. In contrast, the longer nuclear weapons are retained, the greater the probability of nuclear war at some point, without it necessarily becoming more probable at any particular point. Nuclear risks are transient, meaning that risks from past choices resolve if catastrophe is avoided. Yet if elevated risk levels persist, the probability of some future generation facing the aftermath of nuclear war cumulates. While the long‐term trajectory is grim, the threat appears manageable at each point in time. Second, incentives for immediate versus delayed action to tackle underlying challenges vary. The appeal of fossil fuels is expected to wane, whereas the perceived benefits of nuclear deterrence are likely to endure. Third, the salience of intergenerational implications of nuclear weapons is diminishing, while climate impacts grow tangible. Despite shared moral dilemmas, nuclear‐related intergenerational injustice is particularly difficult to recognize and address. Acknowledging this discrepancy matters for how we approach our obligations to posterity
Appeal · Deterrence theory · Harm · Incentive · Injustice · Nuclear ethics · Nuclear weapon · Climate Change and Geoengineering · Nuclear Issues and Defense · Risk Perception and Management
By the bomb's early light
Human Extinction
The Oxford Handbook of Intergenerational Ethics
Climate Ethics
Nuclear Desire
Why Worry About Future Generations?
International Politics in the Atomic Age
The Climate Casino
Climate Endgame
Affect and emotions as drivers of climate change perception and action
Handbook of Intergenerational Justice
Existential Security
Nuclear war as a predictable surprise
The dynamics of inaction
Post-nuclear worldmaking and counter-hegemony
The Anthropocene Consensus
Solving the nuclear dilemma
Nuclear Ethics Revisited
From Insecurity to Uncertainty
Virtual nuclear arsenals
Climate change, uncertainty, and global catastrophic risk
Confronting the threat of nuclear winter
Nuclear power without nuclear proliferation
Collapse, social tipping dynamics, and framing climate change
Disentangling the Nexus of Nuclear Weapons and Climate Change—A Research Agenda
Time for Caution
Questioning the Effect of Nuclear Weapons on Conflict
Super-Networks Shaping International Agreements
Writing IR after Covid-19
Nuclear Weapons and Intergenerational Exploitation
Imaginer la possibilité de la guerre nucléaire pour y faire face
Long-term trajectories of human civilization
Maintaining (US) collective memory
Climate security reversed
The Probability of Nuclear War
The false promise of nuclear risk reduction
Horizon Work
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |