NEW DELHI -- Terrorism and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) have emerged as the two most pressing issues in international relations. Since 9/11, the United States has used the two to advance its strategic interests, linking them to reinforce international concerns about a terror-WMD nexus. This has enabled Washington to base its forces in the largest array of nations since World War II and internationalize its coercive counter-proliferation strategy through the new Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI).
In promoting largely near-term U.S. interests, the Bush administration, however, has shown a remarkable lack of forethought. The U.S. occupation of Iraq, and the ensuing bloodshed and disorder there, have derailed the U.S.-led global war on terror. Less visible is the damage America has wreaked to a long-standing cause central to its interests -- nonproliferation.
The cases of Iraq and Pakistan, for polar-opposite reasons, have helped weaken nonproliferation. The U.S. invaded Iraq to eliminate WMD that were not there but has allowed terrorist-haven Pakistan, with real WMD, to escape international censure for selling nuclear secrets to North Korea, Iran and Libya. By condoning the worst proliferation scandal in world history -- that too involving nuclear sales to nations Washington labels as "rogue states" -- a dangerous precedent has been set in international relations.