Not long after the West chastised Russia for rolling tanks into the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said that his country might be interested in sharing nuclear technology with oil-rich Venezuela, whose president, Hugo Chavez, has been vocal in his opposition to the United States. This hypothetical offer was seen as a reminder to the U.S. of the importance of staying on good terms with Russia. It was also a reminder of how much geo-political leverage comes from having nuclear weapons.

It wasn't the first time that the issue of nuclear proliferation came up in response to the Russia-Georgia conflict. A week after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice denounced Russia for the fighting in Georgia, the Russian government opted out of a UN Security Council meeting that was to work on new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. The United Nations continues to grope for a strategy to deal with Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Multilateral diplomacy aimed at getting North Korea to dismantle its nuclear infrastructure has also faltered. After years of negotiating a deal with South Korea, Japan, China, Russia, and the United States, North Korea now says it is restarting a nuclear plant that makes weapons-grade plutonium.

How is the threat of nuclear proliferation shaping U.S. foreign policy? Where does the nuclear threat lead the U.S. to tread lightly, and where has it caused the United States to get aggressive? We pose these and other such questions to our guests on this week's edition of ON THE LINE.

Our Guests:

• Leonard Spector, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies
• Christopher Ford, Hudson Institute
• Elaine Shannon, The Environmental Working Group