A significant impediment to disarmament comes from nuclear weapon states who argue that the process of elimination would be simpler if certain pre-conditions for global security were first met. Despite some promising developments, relations among nuclear weapon states are not what they should be. Ideal conditions for comprehensive disarmament would require nuclear weapon states to share sensitive military knowledge and the US could no longer underwrite the security of its allies in Western Europe and Japan through extended deterrence. Yet, the United States cannot withdraw the nuclear umbrella in the absence of sufficient political rapport with countries like Russia and China. Fears that a radical Russian leadership could in the future revive nuclear competition to balance the decline in conventional forces and reports of disquiet in Russian ranks have raised serious doubts about the durability of the country' s chain of command in crisis situation.
Similar apprehensions persist about China as well.
The spectre of a rogue state or terrorist group holding the world ransom once nuclear weapons are completely outlawed and eliminated is an additional obstacle to disarmament. Nuclear know-how at its most basic level is not hard to come by and could be exploited by those who are searching for leaks in existing security systems. The debate in Washington addresses most aspects of the complex problem of disarmament. There is now a willingness to discuss the merits of elimination. But by acknowledging the evolving consensus that elimination is a legitimate undertaking, the debate suggests an important shift in the parameters of the nuclear debate.