ABSTRACT
The Obama administration has endorsed a paradigm shift in military planning emphasis from Europe to Asia while acting to reassure European North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies that they will not be abandoned or diminished. Among perceived threats both current and prospective, the existing and potential spread of nuclear weapons among states in Asia is a major peril to regional and global peace and security. Nuclear proliferation in Asia not only raises the probability and cost of wars among states but also invites nuclear handoffs to terrorists or other nonstate actors with grievances aplenty and bad manners.1 In addition, nuclear conflict between two large states in Asia, such as India and Pakistan, has the potential to escalate into a wider regional war with possibly global consequences.2
