The front lines of defense are the sum total of the non-military means our country employs to reduce the dangers posed by weapons of mass destruction. These front lines of defense have been short-changed in recent years. Spending large sums of money for the last line of defense while short-changing the front lines of defense is extremely unwise, and potentially very dangerous. The first line of defense against the proliferation of these dangerous weapons and their means of delivery begins with early detection of troubling programs and continuing attention to subnational groups or states of proliferation concern. Once detection has occurred, this line of defense requires intense oversight of commercial transactions as well as the indigenous development, testing, and production of dangerous weapons.
Proliferation is a global problem, requiting multilateral solutions.
Just as the United States cannot be a global policeman, so, too, we cannot be a global traffic cop. If we're going to succeed in combating proliferation, we'll need strong alliances. We need friends that will help isolate adversaries. We need help to convince states not to provide the building blocks of weapons of mass destruction to countries of proliferation concern. We need persuasive and finn diplomacy once detection occurs.