Nuclear Weapons And Its Effect On The World

Two main theorists of international relations, Kenneth Waltz and Scott Sagan have been debating on the issue of nuclear weapons and the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the 21st century. In their book The Spread of Nuclear Weapons: An Enduring Debate, they both discuss their various theories, assumptions and beliefs on nuclear proliferation and nuclear weapons. To examine why states would want to attain/develop a nuclear weapon and if increasing nuclear states is a good or bad thing. In my paper, I will discuss both of their theories and use a case study to illustrate which theory I agree with and then come up with possible solutions of preventing a nuclear war from occurring.

Since the invention of nuclear weapons, they have presented the world with a significant danger, one that was shown in reality during the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. However, nuclear weapons have not only served in combat, but they have also played a role in keeping the world peaceful by the concept of deterrence. The usage of nuclear weapons would lead to mutual destruction and during the Cold War, nuclear weapons were necessary to maintain international security, as a means of deterrence. However, by the end of the Cold War, reliance on nuclear weapons for maintaining peace became increasingly difficult and less effective (Shultz, et. al, 2007). The development of technology has also provided increasing opportunities for states

The nuclear bomb has been a weapon in the United States arsenal since the end of world war two, where the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. From that day on the way wars were fought has changed forever. Soon after the bomb droppings on the two Japanese cities a race began between the United States and the Soviet Union named the cold war. The two major powers of the world at that time would threaten each other with nuclear war. The cold war ended because the Soviet Union could no longer economically support communism. Then latter on the United States invaded Iran under suspicion that they had nuclear weapons. Years later may people have wondered in nuclear weapons are necessity. Is it really beneficial to whatever nation that possess it, or is it a disaster just waiting to happen? Debates continue to this day on whether nuclear weapons should be against the Geneva Convention. Does the possibility of a nuclear winter with the annihilation of all mankind outweigh the reason for keeping them for protection and military dominance?

The nuclear bomb is an interesting phenomenon that has captured the fascination of scholars, academics, politicians, and the media to bring curiosity and fear together. The first and only use of nuclear weapons occurred in 1945 during the Second World War, wiping out over 200,000 Japanese civilians in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Nuclear bombs, were now viewed as the number one threat that could potentially destroy our planet and the human race. Since 1945 nuclear weapons have since been a strong threat that has imposed a psychological anxiety for world leaders as this threat has expanded to fifty countries with the

The first use of nuclear weaponry in warfare occurred on the morning of August 6, 1945 when the United States dropped the atomic bomb known as “Little Boy” on Hiroshima, Japan. The result was devastating, demonstrating the true power of nuclear warfare. Since the incident, the world has been left fearing the possible calamity of another nuclear war. Joseph Siracusa’s Nuclear Weapons: A Very Short Introduction explains aspects of nuclear weaponry from simply what a nuclear weapon is, to the growing fear from nuclear warfare advancements in an age of terrorism. The book furthered my education on nuclear weapons and the effect they place on society, physically and mentally.

I have many reasons on why the United States of America should maintain Nuclear Weapons. Out of these many reason there will be three for this paper. The world is in grave danger by Nuclear Weapons, so it needs to be explained what could happen and more.

Nuclear Weaponry are creations of mass destruction. They create tension between countries and have everlasting impacts on the Earth. A prime example of nuclear weapons being used in warfare was the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Although atomic bombs could be considered one of the main reasons for the ending of the WWII, I believe they are not ethical and should be prevented from being used. These weapons are devastating to people, animals, nations and even the future generations.

I disagree with Kenneth Waltz’s position that nuclear proliferation makes the world a safer place, and how best to measure the spread of nuclear weapons, particularly in regimes that are developing, unstable, or “third-world.”1 While some scholars see nuclear weapons as a threat to stability and peace due to their mass destruction capability and the potential for horrific fallout triggered by ethnic and geopolitical instability, others see those weapons as holding the power to maintain an appropriate balance of power between opposing regimes at times of tension and during periods of low level conflict. This debate is reflected in international relations.

Nuclear weapons have provided states with the firepower to deter attacks since the United States developed the first bombs in the 1940’s. Nation-states with the abilities to develop such weapons have solidified themselves atop the global hierarchy. Since few states have such weapons, it is naturally attention grabbing when a nation is revealed to be in the process of developing them. Iran began a nuclear program in the 1950’s with the help of the United States, who subsequently suspended aid after the Iranian Revolution in 1979 (Breachy and Sinha 1-3). After the monarchy was overthrown and replaced with a clerical Islamic government, many nations, especially the United States, began to fear that Iranians were using their nuclear program to create weapons of mass destruction (10-13). Over the years, sanctions from the United States, the European Union, and other central powers have crippled Iran’s economy. After the 2005 election of former President Ahmadinejad, who supported the Iranian Nuclear program and offended Israel by calling the Holocaust a myth (Vick), many great powers have begun to work with Iran in an attempt to retard its nuclear capabilities in return for a reduction of international sanctions. Many actors in these negotiations want different things. Iran’s ideal agreements have the sanctions against the country lifted while still maintaining the ability to develop nuclear weapons. This would allow Iran to boost its position at the expense of others in the

The third harmful result of nuclear weapons is that the huge amount of expenditure on nuclear weapons prevents some fundamental problems from solving, and hamper some basic services from offering. Countless fundamental and crucial problems and services, like health care, education, famine and so forth, are waiting to be solved and provided. The article “Spending on Nuclear Weapons” states that “as hundreds of millions of people across the globe go hungry, the nuclear-armed nations spend close to US$300 million a day on their nuclear forces. More specifically for the U.S., $105 billion annually– or $12 million an hour.” (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, 2017) Being costly is not one of nuclear weapons’ drawbacks. But, rendering

“A world without nuclear weapons would be less stable and more dangerous for all of us.”(Margaret Thatcher). Although this quote sounds ridiculous, it is absolutely right. Arguments have been made by President Obama that “nuclear weapons are the greatest threat to U.S. security.” However, history proves that weapons of mass destruction whether– biological, nuclear, chemical or radioactive, are a necessary evil to sustain global stability, deter attacks from rogue nations and encourage diplomacy.

Nuclear weapons. The connotations involved in these two words include many grim concepts such as death, war, and complete destruction. Nuclear weapons are an explosive device which can destroy a whole country with long-term disastrous effects, while killing thousands of people in the process. Despite these weapons only being used twice during warfare during the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, the use of them had tremendous effects on the world and became an event that shaped history for many years, influencing the fear and awareness of these weapons through out the world. Even today, the threat of nuclear destruction still looms over the world with ever growing tension between the United States and North Korea. However, there is still an estimated total of 16,000 to 22,000 nuclear weapons all over the world, with the most belonging to the United States. Which leads to an important question; are nuclear weapons a useful deterrent that discourages war or a dangerous explosive that are only a plague to society?

In order to determine whether or not nuclear weapons create a safer world, one must consider what it means to be safe. According to Oxford Dictionaries, the word safe is defined as being “protected from or not exposed to danger or risk, not likely to be harmed or lost.” How can something so powerfully destructive be associated with safety? In addition to this, one may ask - safe for who? Nuclear weapons pose a legitimate threat to many aspects of life, both immediate and long-term. These intense consequences have been documented over time. The World Health Organization has stated that nuclear weapons can create the greatest human catastrophe, “for which health services in the world could not alleviate the situation in any significant way.”

Daisaku Ikeda, a spiritual leader in Japan once commented, ‘Japan learned from the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that tragedy wrought by nuclear weapons must never be repeated and that humanity and nuclear weapons cannot coexist.’ The world has experienced the bombings of Japan, of Pearl Harbor and the conflict of the Cold War, but even with these conflicts present in our history, warning us of the effects of conflict and nuclear weaponry coexisting with humanity, these warnings have not carried through into society today. Currently in the Middle East, we are witnessing the elements of a modern day cold war starting to appear due to the conflict between Israel and Iran. As Israel and Iran have different religious ideologies, this has created tension and conflict to occur, but more recently, in relation to nuclear weaponry, their conflict has worsened into that, of a modern day cold war.

A nuclear weapon can be defined as a highly explosive device that uses nuclear reactions to create a massive destructive force that can lead to destruction of property and human life. Currently there are two types of nuclear weapons massively used across the globe which include fission and fusion weapons. Fusion weapons are characterized by their ability to produce large energy proportions using the nuclear fusion reactions and such weapons are known as hydrogen bombs. Currently only six countries across the globe hold the ability to use such thermonuclear weapons including United States, Russia, United Kingdom, China, France and India. Hydrogen bombs are more efficient to use but considered more difficult to design and execute (Michael, 1990). On the other hand fission weapons derive their energy from the nucleus of an atom and are mostly referred to as atomic bombs.