Southeast Asia’s Nuclear Blind Spot: Latent Pathways and Explicit Pressures

Southeast Asia is becoming more vulnerable to nuclear risk due to intensifying U.S.-Chinese rivalry and the diffusion of nuclear-adjacent capabilities. Despite being a formal Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone, the region is now exposed to nuclear-powered naval assets and a brewing missile race in contested maritime spaces like the South China Sea. This exposure is compounded by a renewed interest in civilian nuclear energy programs by countries like Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines, which introduces dual-use technology concerns. These trends create a new phase of risk defined by latency and proximity rather than overt proliferation, testing the global non-proliferation regime.