Now only a nuclear state, like, perhaps, North Korea, has any military leverage against the winner, so, paradoxically, the runaway U.S. victory in the conventional arms race might inspire a new round of proliferation of atomic weapons.
This is an example of a very dangerous (and socialist) view put out by liberals embarassed by American military might. What must also be analyzed is the US battle plan for confronting a state with a modest number of nukes of unknown reliability. My guess is that this would involve using a significant number of moderate yeild nukes in regions of likely housing of the enemy nukes. This would not be a repeat of the targeted siting seen in Iraq that would endeavor to spare the building next door. Nations (and the general public) must understand the consequences of taking the decision to go nuclear. Baghdad is getting its electricity and water back with less than one month's interruption. Pyongyang would likely be vitrified. Reporters who do make this clear are making a bad situation worse.