DISARMAMENT FREES UP MONEY TO SPEND ON CONVENTIONAL WAR, ENDANGERING THE WEST. Thomas Speckmann Assistant Lecturer at the University of Bonn, ʻ09] A Nightmare Obama Wants Nuclear Disarmament Atlantic Community, July 17, 2009, http://bit.ly/becfui Until now, the enormous costs of maintaining and updating its nuclear arsenal have stopped Russia from building more powerful conventional forces. The same is true for China. If America and Europe offer this opportunity for these rising countries to focus their resources on conventional armies, the number of bloody conflicts in the world could grow much larger. Even today, Russia and China are already putting pressure on the West through proxy wars in the Middle East and Africa. If mutual disarmament eases the perceived need felt by Moscow and Beijing to spend their money on nuclear weapons, it could seriously endanger the security of the West.
