No, the bad guys don't play by the rules. But not just any old bad guys have the technical ability to enrich unranium, make nuclear weapons, and then figure out a way to deliver them. It takes a pretty well-developed scientific infrastructure, such as Iran and North Korea. I can think of few others

If thru the use of treaties and agreements, the U.S., Russia and maybe China can get together to pressure the bad guys we've been speaking of, there's a chance that kind of pressure can prevent the escalation of countries with nuclear arsenals. It is just a chance, but it's the only chance we've got.

If Iran is successful in developing nuclear weapons, how long do you think it would take for other neighboring nations to want to have similar weapons? How long might it take for someone to sell them to them? Would we all feel better if Iran got nukes and was quickly followed by Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the Emirates, even South Korea and Japan? Then all it would take is one bad decision, one mistake, or some lousy security of the weapons stockpiles and we could have a conflagration that would affect the entire world.

Nope, in my judgement the direction that the U.S. and Russia are headed in, to reduce weapons stockpiles and join together to ultimately eliminate nuclear weapons altogether, is the right one. I just hope our partisan politics don't get in the way.