Email this page to friends About Allan Topol Allan Topol is a partner in a large Washington-based international law firm. He has a science and engineering degree from Carnegie Mellon, and a law degree from Yale University. For almost 40 years, he has been involved in issues at the height of the Washington power structure. He is also a national bestselling novelist, using the thriller genre to explore international geopolitical and military issues. His new novel, ENEMY OF MY ENEMY, dealing with an American pilot shot down over Eastern Turkey and Russian nuclear weapons, will be on sale February 1, 2005. His 2001 novel, SPY DANCE, is about a former CIA agent on the run and Saudi Arabian oil. His 2003 novel, DARK AMBITION, deals with the corruption of power in Washington and China's threatening posture toward Taiwan. In January 2004, his new novel CONSPIRACY was released dealing with a foreign leader's attempt to influence an American presidential election and the possibility of renewed militarism in Japan. Allan Topol contact info: Allan Topol Website Email Allan Topol Allan Topol Books: Spy Dance Dark Ambition Conspiracy Allan Topol Archives Military Opinions Index Discussion Board Have an opinion on this article? Sound off.

January 5, 2005

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Thanks in large part to the United States' efforts, huge numbers of nuclear weapons were moved to Russia from distant locations with the break up of the USSR. They are now stored in poorly guarded warehouses, not subject to meaningful controls. Some have already mysteriously disappeared. Others will no doubt find their way into the hands of rouge nations like Iran or North Korea, or into the arsenals of terrorists like Al Qaeda or elsewhere.

Records and inventories are not being adequately guarded or maintained. This was the conclusion of a panel of American experts appointed by former President Clinton. The panel made several visits to Russia. An oral report by one member of the panel sent chills up and down the spines of listeners. In the last four years, the situation has deteriorated.

Warehouses are being guarded by a handful of soldiers who haven't been paid in months. A case of vodka may be enough to have the soldiers look the other way. If that won't do the job, then cash certainly will.

Make no mistake about the prize inside those warehouses. They are filled with nuclear weapons and delivery systems that can be readily transported. They include long range and intermediate missiles, row after row of menacing looking black tubes. There are piles and piles of tactical nukes, short-range weapons such as torpedoes, depth charges, artillery shells and mines.

The huge dark cloud hanging over our planet, posed by these nuclear weapons, is not something I have created. The subject is so compelling that I decided to use it as the backdrop for my next novel, Enemy of My Enemy, which will be released on February 1st. Researching the novel, I became terrified by the threat posed by the weapons to world peace.

As if all of this wasn't terrifying enough, a new frightening scenario has emerged in the last couple of months. These weapons may become a critical part of the arsenal for the next Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin. Or Czar Vladimir the Great, if you prefer.

Only a foolish optimist could believe that there is anything left to Russian democracy. It was a great theory. Bold in concept that seemed like it had a chance of succeeding during euphoric days of the often confused and misguided Gorbechav regime. Those were the days. Hard drinking Boris Yeltsen brought the nascent democratic movement in for a crash landing amid his chaotic rule. Following that, Czar Vladimir the Great raised his large boot and trampled out the embers that remained.

Historically, a dictatorship of one form or another has been the usual form of government for Russia. No Magna Charta or Declaration of Independence for the people who created some of the world's greatest music and literature.

The United States made a tactical error. This began in the Clinton Administration when we encouraged Russia -- with words and money -- to consolidate the nuclear weapons of the vast Soviet empire within its borders. We should have paid them to destroy the weapons. Perhaps it's not too late to rectify the error.

President Bush has a summit scheduled with Czar Vladimir the Great to take place in Slovenia on February 24. There are plenty of subjects for the two leaders to discuss -- Putin's interference in the election in the Ukraine, Putin's heavy-handed intervention in the Yukos scandal and the theft of the oil giant by his pals, Putin's snuffing out of all independent television and newspapers, the replacement of economic and political freedom in Russia with corruption and fear, Putin's behind-the-scenes meddling in Iran and Iraq, and finally, Putin's anti-Western statements which hearken back to the Cold War.

Bush believes that he has some political capital with Putin. In June 2001, our President said, "Vladimir Putin and I have got a good personal relationship, starting with our meeting in Slovenia." It's unclear how many of these subjects Bush will raise with Putin. However, one topic he should raise is the one regarding those menacing nuclear weapons.

Bush should offer to help fund the destruction of the weapons or their burial in deep underground vaults. Vladimir the Great may dismiss this request out of hand, but nothing will be lost by trying. The world will be a safer place if Bush achieves any measure of success.

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