ABSTRACT
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, changes in the international political environment were dramatic. Ironically, the very changes that have ended the Cold War have exacerbated the problems of nuclear proliferation. President Leonid Kravchuk announced on March 12, 1993, that Ukraine would stop the transfer of tactical nuclear weapons to Russia, saying that their destruction should be conducted under international control. Nuclear weapons—or the components and materials from them—can be sold for high sums to terrorists or proliferant nations. One of the most significant changes in the international political environment is the diminution of the role of security pacts. Some of the greatest challenges to the nuclear nonproliferation regime have resulted from the radically changed international political environment of the early 1990s. The most significant events were the unification of formerly communist East Germany with West Germany, overthrow of communist regimes by several eastern European nations, dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, and the breakup of the Soviet Union.
