Nuclear Proliferation Essay

After a decision was made in 1984 by the army to give it an anti-tactical ballistic missile capability, a series of modifications and additions were made to the system's software and to the missile warhead and fuse (pac-2). These upgrades were then fully tested, manufactured and deployed in Saudi Arabia on time for Desert Storm. This system was designed to defend military targets such as bases against relatively short-range tactical ballistic missiles," Charles A. Zraket articulates before the House Subcommittee on Government Operations. (Simon, 1996) The U.S. Army’s mission during the Persian Gulf War was to shoot down incoming Al-Hussein missiles and Iraqi scud missiles. The mission in Saudi Arabia differed from the Israel mission because Patriot units only had to push the missile away from its intended target or disable the incoming targets warhead. Disabling the warhead ensured minimal casualties as the scuds would typically target military outposts or civilian populations. The overall success rate of the Patriot missile system during the Persian Gulf War was 70% in Saudi Arabia and 40% in Israel. (Simon,

The United States has been unable to fully break from Cold War mentality which began after World War II, and any attempts to try and adjust this policy have been done in miniscule steps resulting in little change. Deterrence has been a strategy utilized by several presidents and administrations since the onset of the Cold War, and in many ways it still remains the central strategy for current foreign policy. The objective of deterrence is to prevent foreign powers from committing unwanted actions against the U.S. or

The incorporation of Patriot was a result of the confrontation with the Soviet Union. The Patriot system was instantaneously recognized in Desert Storm. Operation Desert Storm began on January 16, 1991. The conflict, better known as the Gulf War, was in response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. Desert Storm was a crucial battle where Air Defense had the opportunity to showcase its abilities.

During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union each constructed a supply of nuclear weapons. Soviet policy rested on the principle that a nuclear war could be fought and won. The United States embraced nuclear deterrence, the reliable threat of reprisal to prevent enemy attack. To make its threat substantial, the United States during the 1950s established and positioned several types of delivery structures for attacking the Soviet Union with nuclear weapons. Each one of these systems came to be known as the Strategic Triad. One part of the triad was a long range manned bomber that would deliver the nuclear warhead. The second would be land based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM’s). The third part of this triad was nuclear

Toronto, Canada---- Since the end of World War Two, the United States and the Soviet Union have experienced a number of political clashes. From the Marshall Plan to the Korean war, to testing nuclear weapons, and to the use of missiles, the United States and the Soviet Union have definitely established a divide between the two empires. The growing dependence of the United States in Europe and Great Britain has increased imperialist speculation from the USSR. However, the United States justifies their presence though the policy of Containment, in its attempt to defend democracy. Also since post World War Two, there has been a massive increase of arms in both the Soviet Union and the United States. From the booming economy of the war and the devastating atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the United States became a global superpower. The need for efficient nuclear weapons suddenly became an obsession. In 1952, the USSR managed to develop their own Atomic bomb, which threatened the position of the United States. And from there an arms race began. The use of nuclear weapons is an extreme that neither empire wishes to reach, however, the public is not certain.

"As the bomb fell over Hiroshima and detonated, we saw a whole city vanish. I wrote in my log the words: 'My God, what have we done? '" These were the words voiced by Captain Robert A. Lewis, the co-pilot of the Enola Gay air ship that dropped one of the two particle bombs that struck Japanese soil. This was the primary case of the utilization of atomic knowledge as weaponry and the impacts were destroying. Did the bombings leave Japan pulverized, as well as the whole world saw what some have called an atrocity. The repercussions of the episode was stunning. Expansive structures were lessened to rubbles while hints of the tenants of the region were basically nonexistent. On account of this, there is no contending that atomic weapons are the absolute most dangerous weapons that any nation could have. On the off chance that these weapons were to fall under the control of the wrong individuals, intense results could follow. As far back as the bombings in Japan, many inquiries have risen; ought to the improvement of atomic weapons and atomic insight be put to an end? What might the impacts be were the circumstance to rehash itself now that innovation is considerably more progressed? It has been contended that atomic weapons are advantageous in light of the fact that they are an indication of force and give the nation wellbeing. Then again, others trust that atomic weapons ought to be wiped out in light of the fact that their ruinous power is just excessively cataclysmic.

The North Korean government continues to financially fund the research and testing of nuclear and ballistic missiles. Little information is known about the North Korean nuclear program and has been made available to foreign nations due to the secrecy and isolation of international affairs. The threat of a nuclear strike from North Korea has become an increasingly serious matter for many nations including the U.S. and its Asian allies, Japan and South Korea. Currently, there are only nine nations known by intelligent analysis that possesses the resources to manufacture nuclear weapons which do include the U.S. However, North Korea is the only nation in the 21st century to conduct a nuclear missile test that has been reported by North Korean

FOR THE PURPOSE OF PREVENTING THE BURDEN OF THE IMPOVERISHED AND UNDESIRED AS WELL AS THE ABUNDANT PRESENCE OF NUCLEAR WARHEADS FROM OVERWHELMING OUR NOBLE SOCIETY

The possibility of Iran soon having nuclear weapons is no joke. The Iranian government is growing closer to this goal every day. The Iranian government has totally disregarded United States government’s sanctions against their nuclear program and still continues to enrich uranium. An unsafe goal for such an unstable country as Iran these weapons could easily be put to use against countries like the US and Israel whom Iran openly despises. Iran does all this while also testing long range missile systems capable of launching a missile over 300 miles easily reaching countries like Israel and its neighbors. Iran is also working on an inter-continental missile which would have ranges of much over ten times of what the country has now. Therefore

It’s 2028 and the two nuclear giants are fighting against each other. Thousands dead, buildings in ashes and many hopes destroyed. Yet the worst is yet to come. The temperature of the world is decreasing to new records and is staying like that for many years to come. This is a nuclear winter that many scientists have predicted for decades. A nuclear weapon uses either uranium or plutonium. They work by using a nuclear reaction which breaks down an atom or nucleus into two pieces. This process produces a significant amount of energy which leads to an explosion. (Chan) A nuclear weapon can also be as big as a refrigerator or as small as a warhead. (Daniel) The first nuclear weapon was made in the 1930s known as the “Manhattan Project” made by the U.S. This project was suspended after Hitler was killed, but the U. S. used the weapon due to Japan attacking Pearl Harbor. This attack put the U. S. in a rage, so the U. S had a plan to use the weapon and another nuclear weapon. The U. S dropped a bomb named “Little Boy” on Hiroshima, which followed with the biggest explosion ever witnessed. Then the U. S dropped another bomb. (Lemouse) This was the first and last time anyone used a nuclear bomb, for now. While several people in the government and regular citizens argue that nuclear weaponry is stopping from giving any threats, but nuclear weaponry is actually causing an environmental turmoil and a radiation that will affect everyone in the vicinity for many ages to come.

The Cold War is over and some people believe that we do not need nuclear deterrence anymore. The U.S.S.R has fallen and Russia poses little threat to launch a nuclear attack on the United States. Because of this, Russia and the United States have begun disarming their nuclear weapons. The United States has reduced its nuclear stockpile of warheads from 31,265 in 1965 to about 10,455 in 2002, enough to use for deterrence ("Table of . . . "). This disarming agreement is only between these two countries and they will continue to keep a minimum number of these nuclear warheads to deter other countries. They realize that they are not a threat to each other,

The previously accepted nature of war stemmed from the Clausewitzian trinity: war is emotional, an experience wrought with passion, violence, and enmity; uncertainty, chance, and friction pervade the medium of war; however, because war is not an end in itself, and because, as a means, it is subordinate to its political aims, war must be subject to reason (Clausewitz, 89). With the first employment of nuclear weapons, however, strategists and military theorists began to question Clausewitz’s foundational ideas (Winkler, 58). Similarly, Allan Winkler, in agreeing with Bernard Brodie’s thesis, opines that the advent of nuclear weapons fundamentally changed the nature of war. Winkler’s assertion stems from his argument that such a nuclear duel would yield a post-war environment incapable of recovery for any parties involved (62). He further describes Brodie’s realization that “[t]he atomic bomb is not just another and more destructive weapon to be added to an already long list. It is something which threatens to make the rest of the list relatively unimportant.” (62) Ultimately, Winkler abridges Brodie’s assessment in stating that “the United States was caught in the paradox of having to prepare for a war it did not plan to fight.” (63)

The Islamic Republic of Iran’s conquest for nuclear energy technology commenced during the 1950’s, inspired by U.S President Dwight Eisenhower’s program called “Atoms for Peace”. This program fabricated a plan in which the U.S Atomic Energy Commission would lend Iran as much as 13.2 pounds of low-enriched uranium in order to further develop their nuclear industries, including health care and medicine.i Two years following the agreement, Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi established the Tehran Nuclear Research Center at the Tehran University, and the United States to arranged to supply a five-megawatt reactor. Several years later, in July of 1968, Iran signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

The UK civil nuclear power industry initially started in 1946 followed by the establishment of one of the world’s first nuclear power plant in 1956 [23-24]. This commercial scale reactor was built in southwest Scotland and given a name “MAGNOX” due to the fuel cladding (magnesium non-oxidising alloy) used to contain the fuels. The MAGNOX reactor uses natural uranium metal fuel to generate thermal energy while using graphite bricks to moderate the fast moving neutrons within the core. Two types of graphite bricks are used in MAGNOX design; these are Pile Grade A (PGA) and Pile Grade B (PGB). The former is used as a neutron moderator due to its high density and lower neutron absorption, whereas the latter is mostly used as a reflector [23].

Art, Robert J and Waltz, Kenneth N“Technology, Strategy and Uses of Force” (University Press of America, 1983)