If we had a magic wand, we could wish away the existence of weapons of mass destruction. Unfortunately, we do not. We probably can’t stop the proliferation of the technology now, although we could slow it down in the hope of ameliorating or solving the conflicts that might motivate the use of such weapons. There isn’t a serious risk of their use by a democracy or even a rational dictatorship because it is in nobody’s interests. Unfortunately, there are irrational, unstable and fanatical regimes, as well as terrorist groups with apocalyptic fantasies, who would delight in using them. Such people are seriously dangerous, and we must do everything we possibly can to stop them getting hold of weapons of any kind, but especially weapons of mass destruction. We need to make it clear that anyone who provides such groups or countries with weapons will face the toughest sanctions we can muster. We must also make it clear that if ever weapons of mass destruction are used against us, we will mercilessly destroy the perpetrators, their families, tribes, supporters and funders. In the meantime, we need to redouble our efforts to resolve the major causes of tension and conflict as best we can.