The globalization of nuclear weapons

What is it like to live in a world in which the materials and technology for making nuclear weapons are freely traded? We are in the midst of finding out. Earlier this year, investigators determined that Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan sold some of the technologies he used to build Pakistan's nuclear bomb to several governments that had long sought atomic bombs, including Iran and Libya. Clearly; the threat of the "casual" use of nuclear weapons and of nuclear terrorism has been catapulted from the abstract to the alarmingly concrete. For the right price, an entire weapon might be obtainable on the black market. Only intensive, imaginative diplomacy and a massive demonstration of collective will on the part of the worldwide community can avert this nuclear catastrophe in the making. Sadly, both are in short supply today.