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https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-obama-killed-nuclear-nonproliferation-npt-soviet-union-ukraine-deterrence-bill-clinton-russia-invasion-rules-based-order-49959cc8

How Obama Killed Nuclear Nonproliferation

He took the rules-based international order for granted and wouldn’t defend it.

By Walter Russell Mead

April 10, 2023 5:59 pm ET

In an interview with 'Global View' columnist Walter Russell Mead, the Prime Minister of Israel pointed to developments in Iran, then queried what might happen should it become the first nuclear power run by radical Islam. The answer, he says, is to "expand the circle of peace." Images: Reuters/AP/AFP via Getty Images Composite: Mark Kelly

When Ukraine emerged from the corpse of the Soviet Union, a significant arsenal of Soviet-era nuclear weapons was left on its territory. The Clinton administration devoted much of its diplomatic energy to persuading Ukraine, along with Kazakhstan and Belarus, to return those weapons to Russia.