Given the weakness of today’s UN as an instrument for tackling global challenges, we need to rely on treaties and diplomacy for urgent safety measures at the international level: a new pact on restricting bioweapons and synthetic biology, with inspections for verification; a treaty on AI and cyberwarfare; and a treaty to restrain the arms race for weapons in the oceans and outer space. After creating an Office for Emerging Biotechnology in the US, we should promote the creation of similar offices in as many other nations as possible, building a network of global regulatory capabilities. Finally, we can undertake a series of moderate reforms to beef up the effectiveness of the UN: enlarging the Security Council; restricting the use of the veto; and adding new Peacebuilding roles to the General Assembly.

Tens of thousands of nuclear weapons of Soviet/Russian and US nuclear weapons have been destroyed under successive bilateral treaties. Only one, New START, remains in force, and only until 2026. This chapter explains why and summarises the content and impact of the main treaties adopted between the two superpowers, beginning with the SALT I and ABM treaties in 1972.