. . that the future growth of Russia . . . is not a little overrated. Without a civilizing of the hordes nominally extending the Russian domination over so many latitudes and longitudes, they will add little to her real force, if they do not detract from it; and in the event of their civilizing, and consequent increase, the overgrown empire, as in so many preceding instances, must fall into separate and independent states" Former President James Madison had enough clairvoyance, in 1821, to predict the downfall of the Soviet Union on December 25, 1991. At that moment, the Soviet Union's fifteen members became a commonwealth of separate nations; each filled with self-determination to succeed with their newfound autonomy. The dissolve of the Soviet Union effectively ended the cold war and gave the United States the victory, but new problems arose from both Russia and the non-Russian republics. At the same time the United States was thrust from a bipolar international system, into what seemed to be a unipolar one, the new Soviet Republics were thrust into a nightmare of economic breakdown, rampant crime, and even civil war. As Kenneth Waltz says, "In international politics, overwhelming power repels and leads other states to balance against it." With this quote and the distress of the Soviet Republics in mind, the new hegemony that the United States was experiencing would be short lived. A new crisis emerged from the Soviet Republics that threatened the security of the United States. Robert J. Art argues that one of the main objectives for the United States is to protect the homeland from destruction, and the prime threat to this objective is the spread of nuclear weapons. Because of the poor economic status of the Soviet Republics, they are unable to secure their own nuclear arsenal and stockpiles, which eventually leads to nuclear proliferation.But does nuclear proliferation really pose such a threat to the security of the U...
