INF collapse: The world is suddenly a more dangerous place
For more than three decades the INF was the bedrock of stability and allowed the world to breathe.
Thursday 15 August 2019 15:42, UK
This is not a good moment for the world.
Those who remember the 1970s and early 80s will recall vividly the over-bearing significance that nuclear power played in global political dynamics.
Two superpowers, Russia and the United States, went toe-to-toe. An arms race was in full swing, each nation developing more powerful and greater numbers of nuclear weapons to threaten the other. It was a nervous period.
And then after years of living under the threat of nuclear conflict, the INF Treaty (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty) was a moment to breathe.
For more than three decades, since 1987, it has remained the bedrock of stability. Until today.
The United States gave Russia a six-month ultimatum, Moscow ignored it.
President Trump has made it a trait of his presidency to pull the United States out of key global agreements - the Iranian nuclear treaty, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Paris Climate Accord - but this time is different.
NATO fully supports Washington's position on this. NATO's Secretary General, normally a reserved diplomat, was visibly angry today in a press conference in Brussels.
So what now? Well let's not be dramatic - nuclear conflict is no more likely today than it was yesterday. Indeed, I suspect we won't notice any change in the short term.
But the INF curtailed missile production, it suppressed nuclear ambitions and it ended a Cold War arms race. The prospect of a new arms race is now a real possibility.
And while Russia might be to blame, Mr Trump will surely seek to play this to his advantage.
Perhaps he will look to negotiate a new deal, but this time with China, another nuclear power, involved.
But make no mistake, with the INF defunct and the Iranian nuclear deal withering, the world is a more dangerous place.