ABSTRACT
O ne of the more troubling of post-Cold War international trends has been the advent of a "seeond n ud ear a ge." Rather than losing their relevance in these years, nuclear arms have become a new danger in
this era, which is heraleled in particular by the rise of Asian military power. 1 Michael Krepon of the Stirnson Center observed in 2002 tlut "this is the most dangerous time since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. And the dangers are compounded because we are not just worried about one country. We are worried a bo ut Iran, Iraq, North Korea, and the Indian subcontinent. "2
