There are now far fewer nuclear weapons than at the height of the Cold War, the five major nuclear powers – US, Russia. China, France and UK -having all signed-up to the principle of eventual nuclear disarmament.

But there are other states that possess nuclear weapons and which have not signed up to any arms control treaties. One of those is Israel: another is North Korea neither of which have signed and ratified the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Both being free to build, stock and deploy nuclear, and also chemical, weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

It should be noted here, in this context, that the state of Iran has no nuclear weapons and never has had. And with fears of a renewed nuclear arms race between the US, Russia and China, that topic is high on the agenda at this year’s UN General Assembly.

With maverick nuclear states that hold the UN Security Council in contempt, these are dangerously fraught times for the international community. Will the world destroy itself by nuclear war and radioactive contamination before the effect of the dramatic increase in ocean temperatures – as a result of global warming and climatic change making many of our populated towns and cities, uninhabitable? Thanks to Trump, Netanyahu and possibly Johnson, the answer to that vital question now appears to be that the former seems increasingly likely.

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Hans Stehling (pen name) is an analyst based in the UK. He is a frequent contributor to Global Research.