Nuclear verification is a critical component of global security, ensuring compliance with international treaties and preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons. However, verification efforts are facing growing challenges due to technological advances and geopolitical tensions. Open-source intelligence (OSINT), based on publicly available data, offers a powerful complement to traditional verification methods by increasing transparency and improving detection capabilities.

On 22 January 2026, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) will mark the fifth anniversary of its entry into force. Although more than half of the world’s countries now support the treaty, with 75 ratifications and 25 signatories as of January 2026, some critics doubt that the occasion is a moment for fireworks. Despite persistent criticism, the TPNW remains a significant effort, whose impact extends far beyond its legal status. Its deeper transformative potential lies in a deliberate, systemic effort to reconfigure the global nuclear order by centering the health and humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons while addressing three intersecting axes of exclusion: gender, generation, and geography.

The research consortium “VeSPoTec: Verification in a Complex and Unpredictable World”, together with the Institute for Development and Peace (INEF) at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, is launching a new platform to provide a space for early career researchers and practitioners to discuss the prospects and challenges of verification.