Biological weapons are much more indiscriminate and can have more devastating effects on civilization than nuclear weapons can. Ridding the world of only nuclear weapons may remove us from the somewhat benign fear of war that exists today and place us in a world where the threat of war is much more imminent and the consequences equally catastrophic. De-emphasis does not mean eventual removal. The climate necessary to create a nuclear-free world simply is not foreseeable in the near future. Nuclear weapons and deterrence are still necessary, though not nearly as necessary as they were during the Cold War.
Man is already on the right path.
Nuclear deterrence can no longer be seen as an all-purpose solution to a state's problems. Nuclear weapons are hardly the answer to these problems. However, this does not mean that the end of deterrence is a foregone conclusion. It is the possession of nuclear weapons by other states and the reality that these states will not likely relinquish them that continue to make deterrence a viable peace assurance policy for the United States. The use of these highly destructive weapons against the United States can only be effectively deterred by the promise to meet that destruction with equal or greater destruction in response.