The United States, as a superpower, must take on the responsibility in deproliferating its nuclear weapons supply. What prevents the superpowers and the other nuclear capable countries from total deproliferation is the policy of deterrence in fear of a nuclear retaliation. Nuclear strike capability, not trust, is ironically the main factor that's keeping each nuclear-armed nation in check. This is a very dangerous means of keeping peace, as each at-risk nation coexists under an implicit contract of Mutual Assured Destruction . The policy of nuclear deterrence by means of capability may have been justified during the Cold War between the two superpowers, but is now a precariously unnecessary means of defense considering there are seven other countries that now possess nuclear weapons.
Prevention is the exclusive remedy for a disease with no cure.
Nuclear weapons proliferation must be treated as an epidemic because of the public health risks it poses. In addition to ending the manufacture of nuclear warheads, precautions must be taken such as decreasing the likelihood of accidental weapons misfire, eliminating the targeting systems of active nuclear warheads, or ensuring a larger retaliatory response time in case of an incorrect detection of a nuclear strike. Nations with nuclear strike capability must strive to end the present contract of Mutual Assured Destruction and coexist under a new policy of deterrence governed by the ideology of Mutual Assured Safety . There may not be a quick and easy solution to the problem of weapons proliferation, but there are many actions that can be implemented in the meantime to lessen the probability of a nuclear holocaust.