Sentence:  The possibility , as he asserted , that the Russians may get ahead of us or come closer to us because of their tests does not supply the needed ethical premise - unless , of course , we have unwittingly become so brutalized that nuclear superiority is now <WSD>taken</WSD> as a moral demand . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  interpret something in a certain way; convey a particular meaning or impression