The nuclear genie cannot be put back in the bottle; the knowledge that yielded the nuclear bomb cannot be unlearned. That does not mean the world must merely accept the existence of such weapons of mass destruction (WMD), however. Rather, it requires more vigilance in halting their spread and more creative efforts to convince governments to reduce and eventually eliminate their arsenals.
In this effort, a special burden of leadership falls on the United States and other nuclear-weapons states. That means devaluing the utility of such weapons and reinforcing the international instruments that could, ultimately, render them illegal.
According to a new report by the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, an independent panel of more than a dozen international experts funded by the Swedish government, there are some 27,000 nuclear weapons worldwide, more than 12,000 of which are deployed. Given their destructive potential, there is no disagreeing with the commission's conclusion that these figures are "extraordinarily and alarmingly high."