The abandonment of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty between the United States and Russia is being seen as an inflexion point in the arms race.

Signed in 1987, the treaty banned not nuclear weapons but nuclear arms delivery systems. Before this pact, Soviet nuclear-tipped missiles could hit all Nato capitals in Europe within minutes. Equally, US missiles based in Western Europe would strike Moscow within six minutes or so. A Soviet counterstrike against Washington, however, would take 30 minutes to reach its target. Moscow feared a pre-emptive attack by the West that could destroy its leadership. So the Soviets agreed to remove their intermediate-range missiles and the US agreed to do the same.Thus about 2,700 missiles from Europe and Asia were decommissioned by June 1991 and everyone breathed easier for a while.

Now, both sides blame each other for the treaty's demise. Both sides have said that they will start making new missiles with ranges of 1,000 to 5,000 kilometres. Whatever the reality about each other's claims and counter claims, it is clear that Washington has felt it was at a disadvantage when it came to dealing with China's coastal defences.