Nuclear Zeitenwende? The consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for nuclear policies around the world

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has been widely perceived as a turning point in world politics—or a “Zeitenwende,” as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called it. As the invasion has taken place under a nuclear shadow, with Russian President Vladimir Putin threatening the use of nuclear weapons, this begs the question of whether the Russia–Ukraine war also represents a “nuclear Zeitenwende.” Against this background, this introduction spells out the rationale of this special issue, which focuses on how domestic actors in various countries perceive Russia’s nuclear saber rattling and how they respond to it. After providing a brief overview of the existing work on the nuclear aspects of Russia’s invasion, the piece provides a summary of the contributions that aim to shed light on the impact of Russia’s war of aggression on the nuclear policies of different countries and the differences between various national responses. In sum, the contributions paint a heterogeneous picture of the nuclear Zeitenwende. They show that leaders and publics around the world have drawn different conclusions from Russia’s invasion and that the nuclear Zeitenwende is what domestic actors make of it.