Last December, the United States and Belarus entered into an agreement that was hailed as a non-proliferation success. Under the deal, Belarus agreed to hand over several hundred kilograms of highly enriched uranium in its possession to Russia for downblending. But on August 19, Belarus announced that it was suspending the agreement in response to economic sanctions imposed by Washington over its crackdown on the opposition. While the United States often engages in such moves to ‘promote respect for human rights,’ what has made this case especially interesting is the use of nuclear material as a bargaining tool. Clearly, the contemporary threat perceptions of the United States outlined in the Nuclear Posture Review of 2010, namely the twin threats of nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism, have led Belarus to believe it has a winning hand. From 1991 to 2001, the United States saw the breakup of the Soviet Union, the return of ...
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