More alarming, from a European standpoint, is a possible Trump move to expand arms sales and cooperation with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey's autocratic leader.
Deployment of the missiles comes at a time when American officials expect that President Obama's decision to begin a limited effort to arm the Syrian rebels might be interpreted by Qatar, along with other Arab countries supporting the rebels, as a green light to drastically expand arms shipments.
The new measures include financial curbs, an expanded arms embargo and warnings to UN member states to be vigilant about a range of Iranian activities.
The expanded arms sales to Taiwan, rhetoric that enlarges the commitment to defend the island, the thinly disguised decision to make Chinese missiles a target of revised missile defense plans, the proposed shift in defense strategy from Europe to the Pacific and the call for new long-range weapons to counter China's military power have come in stunning procession.
The shift in tone may appear surprising after months of tension during which an American spy plane landed in China; the Bush Administration described China as a "competitor," expanded arms sales to Taiwan and pushed the missile shield; and strategists on each side are openly speaking about the "threat" posed by the other.
The measures include tighter finance curbs and an expanded arms embargo, but not the crippling sanctions the US had wanted.
But "real progress has already been made," it adds, citing an expanded arms reduction treaty with Russia and other steps to reduce proliferation.
An agreement on defense sector cooperation was also signed that includes the production of ammunition in Indonesia under license and opens the door to expanded arms trade including possible deals for submarines and fighter jets.
Consequences must apply to spoilers in either the North or the South and include tougher economic sanctions targeted at senior officials and affiliated businesses, increased diplomatic isolation, an expanded arms embargo, and increased support for the International Criminal Court's work in Sudan.
This set the tone for the decades that followed, with tragic effects for "downwinders" and others tainted across the country, workers in the nuclear industry, "atomic soldiers," those who questioned the building of the hydrogen bomb and an expanding arms race, among others.
Even as the state forsook direct intervention, so it expanded arms-length attempts to control, coordinate, and regulate other organizations.
