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The United States and Russia have both pulled out the I.N. F. Treaty, signaling a potential resumption of the Cold War era arms race.

The I.N.F. was the result of the nuclear rivalry between the new nations. For an excellent documentary about the development of the nuclear bomb and the subsequent race to create the biggest, most destructive bombs watch Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie. After over thirty years of atomic bomb development, tensions between the two nations were at a breaking point––this was twenty-five years after the Cuban Missile Crisis, after all.

Another crisis erupted in the mid-1980s when the Soviets moved an SS-20 missile in Europe, which was capable of carrying three nuclear warheads. The United States, in turn, stationed its own nuclear weapons in Europe.

This was a dangerous development for the Soviets. United States missiles in Europe could destroy Soviet leadership before they could order a retaliatory strike. The Soviets, as a result, developed a “dead hand trigger”––if computers sensed a combination of radiation and seismic activity, they would unleash their nuclear arsenal.

Signed in 1987, the treaty prohibited land-based missiles with ranges between 311 miles and 3,420 miles. The treaty stood until the 2014 Ukraine crisis. The U.S. accused Russia of violating the treaty, and President Barack Obama personally wrote to Putin about the alleged violation. Last year, Putin displayed the missile that the Americans believed violated the treaty. The Trump administration said the display did not ease their concerns about the missile’s violation of the treaty.

As a result of the Russian’s continued alleged violations of the I.N.F. Treaty, the United States has pulled out of it. The Russians followed suit. Putin announced that he is still willing to negotiate, but he was speaking out of both sides of his mouth. He simultaneously announced that Russia would start developing new missiles. He also said, confusingly, that Russia would not get involved in another arms race. Instead, he said that their own research was meant to parallel United States research, and that any funding for Russian missiles would come from the existing defense budget.

Beijing has called on both sides to be reasonable, but one reason that the United States has pulled out of the I.N.F. treaty is China.

These developments put the already beleaguered Trump administration in a precarious position. The administration has made a series of foreign police blunders in the past weeks, including premature withdrawal from Syria. This new, immensely complicated situation with Russia is a proverbial minefield of difficulty for the administration. If they stray too far in one direction, they risk igniting and arms race with Russia. If the administration isn’t tough enough, by contrast, they risk empowering Putin to continue his saber-rattling and Hitler-like aggression. And the situation is made even more complicated China’s entry into the global arena. China is a powerful third party, and a global superpower that could, if it opted to side with Russia or the U.S. could sway the shape of the global struggle. Or, if China is smart and Trump is not (uh oh…), China can play Russia and the U.S. against each other and simply take the lead in global politics.

More politics.