About this episode

The episode discusses the risks of weapons of mass destruction in the context of changing geopolitical and military landscapes, emphasizing the need for international cooperation to prevent their use.

Today's episode is produced in partnership with the Global Challenges Foundation. The foundation is dedicated to raising awareness of global catastrophic risks and strengthening global governance to address them. The Global Challenges Foundation's 2026 Global Catastrophic Risks report outlines five of the biggest risks facing humanity today, including weapons of mass destruction, the topic of this episode. You can find the report at globalchallenges.org/gcr-2026. Wilfred Wan is director of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Programme at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Michael Wernstedt is acting head of Common Security at the Global Challenges Foundation. We kick off by discussing how geopolitical and military trends are increasing the risks surrounding weapons of mass destruction, before turning to a longer conversation about how to strengthen international cooperation and global governance to prevent the use of WMDs—and the catastrophe that would entail.

People in this episode

Guests: Wilfred Wan, Michael Wernstedt

Topics covered

• weapons of mass destruction
• global catastrophic risks
• international cooperation
• global governance
• geopolitical trends

Keywords

• weapons of mass destruction
• global governance
• geopolitical risks
• international cooperation
• global catastrophic risks

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Global Challenges Foundation, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute

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