Study recognizes that the multipolar nature of the nuclear-armed world greatly com- plicates the strategic landscape and the decision-making tasks of deterrence and defense against multiple nations’ nuclear forces. One can almost view the Cold War with nostalgia as a “simpler” time when the nuclear challenge was mainly about the bilateral relationship between the Soviet Union and the United States.

Source: Nuclear Dynamics In A Multipolar-Strategic Ballistic Missile Defense World-Intel’ Study