New Perspectives on Nuclear Verification

by Leonardo Bandarra

Are you a early career researcher or practitioner working on nuclear verification or related fields? Do you want to share your research, ideas, or experiences with a broader audience of scientists, policymakers, and practitioners? We invite you to contribute to our blog series “New Perspectives on Nuclear Verification,” aimed at amplifying interdisciplinary and regional perspectives on nuclear verification.

“Trust but verify” is an old Russian proverb made famous by former US president Ronald Reagan when referring to arms control negotiations with the Soviet Union. The underlying principle is that, to be effective, security commitments must go beyond goodwill: they must be verifiable. This understanding has been enshrined in international forums such as the Review Conferences of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). In 2010, they adopted a 64-point Action Plan calling on all States Parties to “commit to applying the principles of irreversibility, verifiability, and transparency in relation to the implementation of their treaty obligations.”

What is verification? Verification is the process of gathering and analyzing information to assess compliance with commitments. It usually applies to legally binding agreements (e.g., treaties), but can also be associated with political commitments. Verification activities may be conducted by an independent international organization, such as the International Atomic Energy Agency in the case of safeguards, or by states themselves, as in arms control treaties between the United States and the Soviet Union/Russia. They may also be unilateral demonstrations of compliance, for example, with disarmament commitments. Increasingly, verification is becoming more inclusive, with new actors such as NGOs, think tanks, and universities contributing to so-called “societal verification.”

Verification is both a technical and a political process. The information collected through verification assessments can support confidence- and trust-building processes, mitigate suspicions of wrongdoing, and identify early signs of non-compliance. In this way, verification builds confidence and supports the effective implementation of international commitments, from preventing the acquisition of nuclear weapons to advancing irreversible nuclear disarmament. Understanding the nuances and possibilities of nuclear verification is therefore vital to ensuring the viability of the global nuclear order. Yet today, verification faces mounting challenges: geopolitical tensions, emerging technologies, withdrawal from arms control treaties, and an erosion of multilateral institutions, as well as increasingly complex security environments, raise pressing questions about how to build trust, ensure compliance, and adapt institutions to rapidly changing realities.

With this in mind, the research consortium “VeSPoTec: Verification in a Complex and Unpredictable World”, together with the Institute for Development and Peace (INEF) at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, is launching a new platform to provide a space for early career researchers and practitioners to discuss the prospects and challenges of verification.

“New Perspectives on Nuclear Verification” is a blog series designed to bring the next generation of ideas and voices into this debate. We believe that early career researchers (that is, postgraduate researchers, and advanced students) as well as young professionals are uniquely positioned to rethink established assumptions and connect insights across disciplines and regions. Their work captures shifts in technology, society, and international politics at an early stage, offering novel approaches that established debates might overlook. We invite you to follow the series, comment, and share it widely, and, if you are an early career researcher or young professional, to add your own perspective.

Each contribution (300–500 words) will introduce a key question, argument, concept, or case study related to nuclear verification, spanning both nonproliferation and disarmament. Authors are encouraged to bridge technical and social sciences and to highlight regional experiences from around the world. Articles will be published on a rolling basis and made available through VeSPoTec’s and INEF’s websites and social media channels. The first set of publications will feature topics such as how trust and justice shape verification in regions like South Asia, the development of regional verification systems in South America, debates on the politicization of IAEA safeguards, and the use of open-source information in verification assessments. Selected contributions will also be featured here on the Development & Peace blog.

We look forward to your ideas for making nuclear verification more credible, inclusive, and effective!