The paper concludes that noteworthy changes in the international nuclear non-proliferation regime are hardly expected. Being useful for legal formalization of the non-nuclear weapon status of a state giving up nuclear military program and for further monitoring of related obligations, the NPT and non-proliferation regime overall can’t stop a development of nuclear weapons if a state decides to do so. In turn, the prospects of nuclear proliferation (or non-proliferation) depend on peculiarities of the strategic situation in a particular region and its evolution.

As I recall, one of the previous PIR Center calendars featured a Samoan pineapple on the cover. I think it was back in the “fat naughties” as the decade has become known in Russia. The 2014 cover showed a merry gathering of three South Africans rhinos. The Security Index has always been partial to rhinos – not so much because of their horn but because despite their thick armor, they have proved vulnerable and are now on the brink of extinction. That is why the rhino is an accurate reflection of the nature of security.