The U.S.-Europe rift brings nuclear risks

IT’S BEEN THE STUFF OF NIGHTMARES EVER SINCE the Cold War: U.S. officers detect a Russian missile taking flight, and they have just a few minutes to counsel the President on how to react. Under the treaties that govern nuclear arms, those officers have the information they need to help make the right call—and to avoid such scenarios from arising in the first place. But these safeguards are now in jeopardy.

Two of the treaties that buttress the world’s post–Cold War security architecture—setting strict limits and enforcing transparency on both