WHEN IT TURNED 30 in 2017, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty was ailing. Russia had proposed ripping up the pact in 2005. When it was rebuffed it tested an illegal cruise missile, the 9M729. A few years later the Obama administration called out Russian cheating. In December 2018 America's nato allies belatedly backed America. So, when Russia failed to meet a deadline to destroy the missile this month, America pulled out of the treaty and Russia soon followed. The only pact to ban an entire class of nuclear weapons will thus expire in August. The task for America and nato is to meet the Russian challenge without triggering an arms race that would split the alliance and jeopardise what is left of global arms control.
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