The Controversy Of Banning Nuclear Weapons

If nuclear weapons are used in war sustainable life on this planet will be ended. Nuclear Weapons have only been used a few times in the history of this earth. The few times nuclear weapons were used the amount of damaged they caused was devastating. The first country to use nuclear weapons was the United States during World War II. On August 6, 1945 an atomic bomb nicknamed “Little Boy” was dropped on Hiroshima killing between 90,000 and 166,000. Then on August 6th, 1945 the second atomic bomb nicknamed “Fat Man” was dropped on Nagasaki killing 60,000 – 80,000 people. These statistics show how devastating nuclear weapons were when they were used and how they can be if they are used again. This paper will examine the Dangerous effects of

Nuclear weapons are one of, if not the most dangerous weapons in the world today and they are one of the biggest issues the world faces at this current moment. They have the capability of destroying entire cities and then some that could result in millions of deaths within seconds. Radiation from the blasts would kill even more people throughout years to come. They were first used in 1945 at the end of World War II, when the United States dropped Little Boy and Fat Man in Hiroshima and Nagasaki to ‘save’ the lives of American soldiers. Since then, a nuclear arms race was born and it’s becoming more of a concern as time moves forward. Albert Einstein, who was the creator of the nuclear bomb once said “I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” Countries should not have access to nuclear weapons because it destroys the environment, there is a possibility of a nuclear war that will end in mass destruction of the world, and countries could save both revenue and resources.

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?

I agree with Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, she points out how volatile our world would be with out nuclear weapons. Preserving life on earth comes down to a couple of things, uphold the sanctity of nations’ independence, improve the safety on

On August 6, 1945 the first atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, instantly killing 66,000 people. The dropping of the bomb also had broader circumstances as it forced the surrender of Japan, officially ending World War II. However, the end of World War II marked the beginning of the political conflict and military tension between Russia and the United States known as the cold war. The “war” became global as it as it transformed from the U.S.S.R. vs. the United States to NATO vs. the Warsaw Pact. The Cold War ended in 1991, and now about twelve countries are confirmed or suspected to possess nuclear weapons. Globalization has advanced both the spread of nuclear weapons, and their disarmament. Non-proliferation efforts

The United States alone spends billions of dollars a year on nuclear weapons, while other countries do the same. This diverts from more important funds that could be put in effect to help those living in the country. While important human resourcing programs and groups devoted to improving people’s quality of life get less funding, billions of dollars are being used to maintain thousands of deadly weapons not in use. It is not logical for a country to carry thousands of nuclear weapons at a time, because even a couple will have enough effect to destroy countries. One would say that the United States needs to keep this power. The United States alone is the leading country with the largest military expense by a vast margin. Taking away weapons that are able to destroy the planet hundreds of times over will not weaken military power within the country.

Nuclear weapons have only ever been used once in human history, and that was during World War II when The United States deployed missiles on Japanese territory, in Nagasaki and Hiroshima. At the time of bombing in 1945 only the USA had developed nuclear weapons, whilst today the pool of states consisting of nuclear weapons is still extremely small, with only nine states laying claim to nuclear technology and weaponry. This nuclear proliferation is explained by Darryl Howlett who explains this as the worldwide spread of nuclear weapons. For Howlett states are nuclear driven because of the ‘strategic, political and prestige benefits’ attached to nuclear weapons[1]. In the

The Cold War proved that nuclear weapons would set the tone for science and warfare. Both world powers were focused on building upon existing technologies, and there are many great things that have come from this production. Nuclear power, which provides energy for twenty-five percent of our country's needs today, came from the struggle during the Cold War. The fear the country felt motivated many people to do great things. Now, the United States has around 9,400 warheads and bombs combined. This is a massive arsenal capable of wiping humans, and possibly life entirely, off the face of the earth. Towards the peak of the Cold War, the United States possessed 11,000 warheads, stationed all over the world, ready to go off at a moment's notice. The number the Soviet Union had is underreported and both countries would exaggerate or diminish the number to sway public opinion. Needless to say, back then there were too many nuclear weapons for the safety of our

In the twenty-first century the threat of nuclear war is still prominent but instead of the U.S.S.R the threat is now centralized in the Middle East and North Korea. So instead of building more bombs, as we did in the age of the red scare, we are now disarming them according to Sharon Squassoni the Director and Senior Fellow of the Proliferation Prevention Program . But problems in the middle east and with North Korea have caused us to keep a larger quantity on stand by. The United States is taking preventative

“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.

Even though nuclear power plants threaten the health and safety of many people, nuclear energy is being used in other ways as well, which may be even more dangerous. In 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, in order to end World War II. This event was the only time a nuclear weapon was used in the history. During the first two to four months, approximately 90,000 to 166,000 people died as a result. Wilfred Burchett quoted, “When you arrive in Hiroshima, you can look around and for 25 and perhaps 30 square miles you can neither see hardly a building nor a standing human. All of them are collapsed on the ground.” Yet, having seen the destructive effects of nuclear weapons, the United States currently still owns more than 7000 nuclear weapons, in which half of them could be launched in less than ten minutes. Russia is believed to be a holder of the same number or more nuclear weapons as well. The United States and Russia are the two countries with the most nuclear weapons, but in total, the number adds up to around 19,000 worldwide. Many people do not give a thought about this dangerous situation, since these weapons are

The use of nuclear weapons in todays society would cause wide spread destruction. Alongside physical blast and heat, intense and extremely harmful radiation is created within the detonation zone. Large amounts of radioactively contaminated material would be blown into the earth’s atmosphere, which then has the potential travel long distances and place human health far from ‘ground zero’ in critical danger. One nuclear weapon detonation in a densely populated area would be a humanitarian disaster; the use of multiple nuclear weapons would be cataclysmic. Intuitively, this strongly suggests that any moral justification for using these weapons would have to be based on the knowledge that the weapons are being used for the greater good of humanity. Some perceive the greater good served by nuclear weapon use to come in the form of international peace and stability. Nuclear weapons may be evil, but they have helped restore and maintain equality within the world at times of great instability. History will show that there has never been a physical war between nuclear-armed states. This can be accounted for through mutually assured destruction. International relations theorist Kenneth Waltz even suggested that, ‘with more nuclear states the world will have a promising future.’

The historian Spencer Weart notes "You say 'nuclear bomb ' and everybody immediately thinks of the end of the world" The escalation of nuclear proliferation in and around the world, especially in the Middle East has led to the fear of nuclear war in the near future. Many countries built nuclear weapons because it felt insecure from the major nuclear states or from their neighbors conventional military or nuclear capabilities. This is the situation with China, India and Pakistan. Many other reasons encourage countries to seek nuclear weapons, but the main reason for acquiring nuclear weapons is the deterrence against any external threat and prevention external offensive that might lead to war. Nuclear weapons make such countries feel more secure, nuclear weapons can prevent war because countries will have the ability to deter any external aggression. At the same time, there is no guarantee that acquiring nuclear weapons may lead to nuclear war.

Nuclear weapons are the most dangerous weapons on earth. One can demolish a whole city, potentially killing millions, and exposed the natural environment and lives of future generations through its long-term catastrophic effects. According to the UNODA- United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (2011), “Although nuclear weapons have only been used twice in warfare- in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945-about 22,000 reportedly remains in our world today and there have been over 2,000 nuclear tests conducted to date.” Nuclear weapons have been viewed as a threat to peace by world leaders. There have been debates of whether to let Iran and North Korea acquire nuclear weapons, leaders all around the world along with Liberals believe that it is a threat to peace and should limit the spread whereas neo realist have another belief that nuclear weapon can make the world a peaceful place. Because states would fear to attack each other. For example the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 and cold war- there were only threats and war did not happen because of nuclear deterrence. The Cuban missile crisis has frequently been portrayed as the only time where the world stood in the point of nuclear war between the superpowers. This is an example of how nuclear weapons were used to threaten the rival. Another examples would be that of India and Pakistan before they acquire nuclear weapon , they fought three bloody wars after having their independence but since 1998, after acquiring

Nobody can predict how much dangerous the world will become when there would be no nuclear bombs. It is probably impossible to check the number of nuclear bombs in the world. Defense experts also say that it wouldn't be a wise decision to scrap all nuclear weapons when hostile states like Iran are about to acquire a nuclear bomb.