While America worries about its current economic malaise, a troubling trend is emerging in the Middle East that has great potential to eventually yield devastating results.  Namely, this is the increasing likelihood of the entire region arming itself to the teeth with nuclear weapons.  This article from the Wall Street Journal should be sobering. 

The real threat of Iran going nuclear is more than typically asserted.  There is no doubt the Arab nations will seek to counter the "Persian" bomb.  Once this happens, despite America's apparent efforts at incorporating Arab states into a new missile defense structure (see the recent deals betwen the US and the United Arab Emirates), there will be no good way to rationalize away their desire to obtain weapons comparable to what Iran will have.

Clearly, this has the potential to be greatly destabilizing to the region and global oil supplies.  I know that some strategists may believe that all the Middle East pointing nuclear warheads at each other may lend itself to stability akin to what was acquired during the US-Soviet faceoff of the Cold War, but I don't think we count on the same level of relative rationality to prevail under this scenario.  This makes this entire region, complete with the instability of the nuclear armed Pakistan, a true nightmare regarding nuclear non-proliferation and the threat of nuclear terrorism.  I have argued many times on this blog that we are entering the "Golden Age of Proliferation."  Nothing happening at this moment dissuades me from believing this is happening and even more rapidly than I would have initially envisioned.