Russia, Iran, China, North Korea: The Nuclear Dimension of the Axis of Upheaval

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In an international context marked by the resurgence of power rivalries, cooperation between Iran, China, Russia and North Korea is attracting increasing attention.
Often described as an “axis of upheaval”, these regimes maintain increasingly close bilateral partnerships which, without constituting a formal alliance, undermine international norms, particularly in terms of nuclear non-proliferation. While Russia and China are rapidly modernizing their strategic arsenals, North Korea is pursuing the qualitative development of its capabilities, and Iran is crossing technical thresholds that reduce its distance to nuclear weapons.
At the same time, these states are cooperating opportunistically - transferring technology, circumventing sanctions, providing diplomatic support - and undermining multilateral disarmament instruments. This event aims to explore the nuclear dynamics within this informal axis, its consequences for Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific security, and the policy options available to states committed to the non-proliferation norm.
Speaker:
Dr. Nicole Grajewski, Research Fellow at the Nuclear Policy Program of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Chair:
Héloïse Fayet, head of the Deterrence and Proliferation program at Ifri.
Contact
For further information on this event, please contact Ifri's Security Studies Center ([email protected]). Access is only available to those who have received a personal invitation by e-mail.
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