The United States spent over $52 billion on nuclear weapons and related programs in 2008, but only 10 percent of that will have gone toward preventing a nuclear attack and slowing the proliferation of nuclear weapons and technology. Stephen Schwartz and Deepti Choubey explain that these misplaced budget priorities signal to the world that the United States is more interested in preserving and upgrading its nuclear arsenal than in reducing and eliminating the growing threats of nuclear proliferation and limited nuclear or radiological attack.