| Summary/Abstract |
The failure of the security assurances contained in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum to prevent Russia's annexation of Crimea and support for eastern Ukrainian separatists has been widely viewed as a serious blow to global nuclear nonproliferation efforts. In particular, observers have maintained that the experience will undermine the future value of security assurances in persuading countries to give up nuclear weapons capabilities or to continue refraining from acquiring them. Observers have also asserted that the experience will reinforce the lesson learned from such previous cases as Iraq and Libya that giving up nuclear weapons or nuclear weapons programs will make a country vulnerable to military attack.
|