When confronted with evidence that the atomic and space ‘races’ of the previous century neither stopped new entrants nor conferred decisive advantages
Seems like a very strange thing to say in a world with so few nuclear weapons. I guess they mean "atomic" in the sense of nuclear power, and the truth that the scientific advantage was slim?
The atomic and space 'races' were advertised to confer decisive geopolitical advantages on the countries that possessed them. Clearly that didn't happen. The Soviets got their bomb four years after the US, and similarly the US caught up with the Soviets in space. Neither enjoyed a decisive advantage.
More importantly, their 'race' didn't prevent others from developing their own bombs and space capabilities.
Oh sure the soviets got a bomb, but I'm talking about the other 95% of the world. The article seems to be about India in particular, which is why it's particularly noteworthy -- India had to pull some straight up Looney Toons shit to build nukes without the US noticing via satellite and shutting them down. And AFAIR they were the last state to get them, other than maybe the time Israel blatantly stole the US's tech.
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