The End of a U.S.-Russia Arms Treaty Spells Long-Term Trouble
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Washington’s decision to walk away from the INF treaty is yet another sign to Europeans that the US can no longer be counted on as a partner.
Some foreign-policy decisions fundamentally reshape the world as we know it in an instant. Others take years for their full impact to be felt.
The Trump Administration’s decision on Feb. 1 to withdraw the U.S. from the Cold War–era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty is in the second category. The threat of nuclear war has not suddenly spiked because the U.S. decided to quit the INF treaty, nor because the Kremlin announced its intention to follow suit 24 hours later. But make no mistake: this is a decision from Washington that makes the world a more competitive, combustible place in the long term.
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