Ukraine (closed; covers till August 2014)

[carl]

Nuclaer weaopons neither prevent a state from becoming a failed state nor do they transform a failed state into a functioning state again. Therefore, Pakistan is an example with very limited value

That would make a difference if the Pak Army/ISI/feudal elites in Pakistan and the Kim family dynasty cared a tittle or a tot about the Pakistanis or the North Koreans. They don't. They care about themselves and having nukes gives them the ability to do a Mumbai, kill Americans or sink corvettes and get away with it. So for the limited purpose of keeping other people from invading or attacking you even in the face of provocation, nukes are just the thing.

Same thing with Russia itself. They get away with all the things they pull, stealing Crimea for example, because they have nukes.

The current world situation makes it pretty clear that if you have nukes, you are in a different class than if you don't. For Ukraine, getting them may be a problem. But having them will solve the Russia problem.