The arms race changed the relationship between the democratic west and the Soviet Union and created an atmosphere of fear and national insecurity known as the Cold War. During the Cold War, the Communist and Democratic nations accumulated huge arsenals of nuclear weapons that could destroy entire regions of the Earth. From this mammoth amount of power and influence came distrust, accusations of treason, and an era of nationalism. Today, many of the weapons still exist and pose a large nuclear threat, causing both the West and the East to fear each other as well as the possibility of nuclear warfare.