Essay About Nuclear Weaponsit And Nuclear Weapons

Nuclear Weapons
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Nuclear WeaponsIt has an impact on peace, war and securitySpread of nuclear weaponsProliferation-increase rapidlySpread-increase in number1st state to develop nuclear weapons- USA 19452nd state- Russia (1949)Britain 1952, France 1960China 1964India & Pakistan 1998North Korea 2005There has never been a war between nuclear countries. US and SU did not really go to war (cold war) as they mutually feared each otherIndia and Pakistan- after becoming nuclear states, these 2 countries didn’t go to war. Before that, they fought 3 bloody warsAccording to realists, we should love the bomb, as since states acquired nuclear weapons, there has not been any nuclear warsNeo realists are nuclear optimists- for them, the spread of nuclear weapons will lead to nuclear peaceFor realists, if Iran and North Korea acquire nuclear weapons, there will be world peaceFor Kenneth Waltz, nuclear weapons are not about defense but DETERRENCE DETERRENCE- Dissuading someone from doing something by threating to hit backStates will not attack because of fear of punishment.Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)- SU and US didn’t go to war as they feared each otherDeterrence theory is based on 3 requirements (Sagan)1. There should be no preventive war during the transition period (No attack from a nuclear state to another one which is building one)2. Second strike invulnerability (1st strike will not destroy the nuclear capabilities of the state. In nuclear strategy, a second-strike capability is a countrys assured ability to respond to a nuclear attack with powerful nuclear retaliation against the attacker.3. Only state leaders will have the capacity to press the nuclear button. Unauthorised persons won’t have access to these weapons ARGUMENT AGAINST PROLIFERATION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS1. Leaders might be crazy-irrational2. Leaders of rogue countries (Kim Jong Un) are described as crazy, and might be unable to appreciate the negative  impact of nuclear weaponsHowever, neorealists say that even the craziest leaders say that they know they can’t start a nuclear warNikita Crustief said that he would bury US using Nuclear Weapons-nothing happenedMao and Stalin killed millions of people, without the use of nuclear weaponsHistory has been on the side of neorealists1. There has been only one nuclear war2. No war between India and Pakistan3. No nuclear war between US and SUNuclear PessimistsFor them, we have to worry about nuclear weaponsIt is true that there has been no war between nuclear states, but that doesn’t mean that there won’t be nuclear wars in the futureRichard Betts- All disasters are things that have never occurred until the first time they occurFor Scott Sagan, we must open the blackbox to see what is happening in a stateWe must analyse internal factors of states, especially between those who have just acquired nuclear weaponsLook at the relationship between military leaders and civilian leaders to see if military has an influence over the civilian governmentIn Madagascar and Egypt, the military has a strong influence over the civilian governmentState might not want to sell their know how about nuclear weapons now, but might sell it later for moneyAbdul Kahhn- sold bomb designs to Lybia, Iraq and sold nuclear technology to N.KoreaState Interest v/s Individual interestLack of government influence in new nuclear statesIn china, the government has the last say concerning nuclear weapons. In other states, it is the military which has the last say. Concerning deterrence requirementsFor Sagan, preventive war will happen when military leaders have the last say in decision making.There is a lack of protection and central control for nuclear weapons, increasing the probability of vulnerabilityThere can be cases of unauthorized access to nuclear weapons- in 1992 a Lithuanian programmer put a virus in the system protecting the nuclear plant