The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty regulated the kinds of conventional and nuclear missiles that could be researched, tested and deployed, and served as a key pillar of global peace and security for decades. U.S. allegations that Russia had fallen out of compliance began in 2014 under President Barack Obama, and then continued escalating under President Donald Trump. In 2019, both Russia and the United States officially withdrew from the INF.

Watch the video above as Straight Arrow News contributor Peter Zeihan explores what the end of the INF regime means for global security, how the U.S. and its allies stand to gain from this, and which countries will lose out the most.

The following is an excerpt from Peter’s July 17 “Zeihan on Geopolitics” newsletter:

Well, it looks like the Germans are going to be celebrating Christmas in July. That’s due to the U.S. and Germany’s decision made at the NATO conference to redeploy American mid-range weaponry to Germany. And yes, this hasn’t happened since the Cold War for… historic reasons.

Russia is the country to blame here. They’ve been violating arms treaties for the past 15 years, so the U.S. got fed up and bailed on the INF Treaty five years ago; this triggered the redeployment process. There are a whole boatload of reasons that this is happening, but defense against the Russians tops the list.

While the Russians may have opened this can of worms, the fallout isn’t going to be confined to them. Since the treaty that barred the U.S. from taking actions globally is now kaput, the Chinese will be feeling some of the heat too. You can expect to see some intermediate-range American weapons in close proximity to China and throughout East Asia, which should help limit China’s global economic influence.