Discussions about the need for independent nuclear capabilities are no longer seen as fringe ideas in some parts of Asia, says Patricia M Kim from Brookings Institution. WASHINGTON DC: Thursday (Feb 5) marks the end of an era of nuclear restraint – and the beginning of a far more uncertain one. With the expiration of the New START treaty, the last remaining limits on US and Russian nuclear forces have fallen away. There are now no legally binding caps on the number of deployed strategic nuclear