Squaring the Nonproliferation Circle

"Today, the Cold War has disappeared but thousands of [nuclear] weapons have not. In a strange turn of history, the threat of global nuclear war has gone down, but the risk of a nuclear attack has gone up. More nations have acquired these weapons. Testing has continued. Black market trade in nuclear secrets and nuclear materials abound. The technology to build a bomb has spread. Terrorists are determined to buy, build or steal one.” So said President Barack Obama in 2009, discussing the greatest threat he sees confronting the United States.

Now, five years after he uttered those words, it is worth evaluating the effectiveness of his policies to stem the threats of nuclear proliferation and terrorism. Are we safer from a nuclear detonation now than we were five years ago?

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