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The Nunn-Lugar program was originally conceived to eliminate the fearsome Soviet arsenal that had been aimed at the United States during the Cold War, and to keep those weapons of mass destruction out of the hands of terrorists and rogue states.

Two decades later, it has proven an unqualified success. The Nunn-Lugar program has dismantled 7,514 nuclear warheads, destroyed 768 intercontinental ballistic missiles and 32 nuclear submarines. It has eliminated more weapons than the arsenals of France, Britain and China combined.

Now is time to build on that success and employ the skills and expertise that have been developed in the Nunn-Lugar program to address new threats and new challenges. With support from the Obama administration, Nunn-Lugar could become the central...