Nuclear Proliferation Essay

Nuclear Proliferation is the spread of nuclear weapons, fissile material, and weapons-applicable nuclear technology and information, to nations which are not recognized as â€Å"Nuclear Weapon States† by the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons; also known as Nuclear Proliferation Treaty or NPT. The purpose of the treaty was to help avoid the spread of nuclear weapons to those countries that have not been recognized as nuclear weapons states. NPT has only been signed by 189 countries, not by countries that are believed to have nuclear weapons. The United States was the first and is the only country to have used a nuclear weapon in war. They used two bombs against Japan in August, 1945. Germany and Japan ceased to be involved in any nuclear weapon research. August, 1949, the USSR tested a nuclear weapon, as well as the United Kingdom in October, 1952, France developed one in 1960 and the People’s Republic of China detonated a nuclear weapon in 1964. India was next with exploding a nuclear device in 1974, and Pakistan tested a weapon in 1998. Finally, North Korea conducted a nuclear test in 2006. Pros and Cons Reasons for abolishing nuclear weapons are: †¢ The entire world would be more secure if the planet were free of nuclear weapons -Nuclear Weapons are the only weapons that have the ability to extinguish the entire human race and its entire species. †¢ The threat/use of nuclear weapons has been declared generally illegal by the World Court -On July 8th, 1996, the World Court stated that it is illegal to use or threat to use nuclear weapons †¢ Nuclear Weapons are morally at fault -nuclear Weapons are intolerable. Nuclear weapons can wipe out most if not all of the lives on Earth. †¢ Nuclear weapons don’t do what they’re supposed to do, which is prevent wars! -Nuclear weapons states have been involved in more wars than non nuclear weapon states †¢ Nuclear Weapons are extremely costly -The cost of research, development, testing, deployment, maintenance, and associated intelligence activities are combined, the price is heavy. Then you have the cost of damage to land, illness, and cancer deaths from pollution, and nuclear waste storage, the price becomes enormous. †¢ Some countries have already given up nuclear weapons, showing that it is possible for a nation to be stable without them -Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine, became nuclear weapon free states voluntarily. They transferred their nuclear warheads to Russia after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Reasons for nuclear weapons are: †¢ Nuclear Weapons cannot be uninvented -No human invention can be uninvented, but it also is not enough to abolish nuclear weapons †¢ No serious proponent of disarmament argues that the US should eliminate its nuclear arsenal unilaterally -As long as other states have nuclear weapons, the US should remain a credible restraint †¢ Steps toward zero by the US won’t cause Korea to disarm or Iran to drop its nuclear ambitions – The US would be seeking to gather the support of the other non-nuclear weapon states that are members of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, rather than seeking to influence North Korea, Iran or any other †¢ US shouldn’t ignore its allies -The United States working toward disarmament might lead some US allies to seek their own nuclear weapons †¢ US disarmament efforts should not be delinked from the wider security picture – US disarmament efforts should be probable upon improvements in the wider security movements Tactical vs. Strategic Nuclear Weapons There are two different types of nuclear weapons: tactical and strategic. Tactical means that it directly effects a tactical situation on a battlefield. It would be directly used on troops, tanks or ships. Tactical weapons were smaller and could be rocket, missile, air, or artillery launched. Strategic means it effected the environment, such as destroying a city to prevent production of military equipment for the entire war. Strategic weapons are larger and are missile, submarine, or air launched. Strategic weapons could be used for a tactical purpose and tactical weapons could be used for a strategic purpose. Threat of Terrorism and Nuclear Scare I think Terrorism has absolutely changed the way countries think about nuclear weapons. Before all countries had to worry about was whether or not their rival country was going to launch an attack on them. Now counties have to worry about other countries getting nuclear power including terrorist! Terrorist don’t think things through like other countries do. They will launch nuclear weapons on a country knowing that the country will get even. For this reason, a country simply acquiring nuclear weapons is not a restraint for them. In theory, terrorists might either seize an existing weapon or set up a secret organization to make one. In general, obtaining nuclear weapons by unauthorized individuals or groups seems unlikely because nuclear materials are difficult to acquire and to handle; but say for instance a terrorist organization was able to obtain nuclear weapons; they can become a threat to another part of the world and/or they would have to wage war endangering the lives o f the citizens in that country. Culture The legitimate language of North Korea is Korean. In North Korea, religion is inhibited. Religious activities have been nonexistent since 1945; Buddhism, Chongdogyo, and Christianity existed before but had influenced the country in a way that made them disapprove. According to CIA World Fact book, as of July, 2011, the population was 25.5 million and the growth rate about +0.42%. North Korea is bordered to the South of South Korea, to the east of the Sea of Japan, to the West of the Yellow Sea and to the North of Manchuria. Their agricultural products include rice, corn, barley, soy beans, potatoes, pig, cattle, pork, eggs and more. Nuclear Arsenal Analysis Their amount of their arsenal is unknown. But we do know that they seek to increase their nuclear arsenal. They believe North Korea continues to pursue a uranium enrichment capability drawing on the assistance it received from A.Q. Khan before his network was shutdown. North Korea continues to develop, produce, deploy, and sell ballistic missiles of increasing range and sophistication. They believe North Korea has active CW and BW programs and probably has chemical and possibly biological weapons ready for use. Why they’re a danger and to whom? North Korea is the biggest danger to South Korea. These two counties have been at war for years. For some reason North Korea continues to attempt to attack South Korea and it seems as though they won’t stop at any cost. North and South Korea has had different economic systems since the Korean War of 1950. South Korea operates under a market economy system and North Korea adapted central planning economy. Therefore, while North Korea faces chronic economic problems because of previous leader’s poor judgment, South Korea’s economy has achieved an incredible record of growth. Worst Case Scenario North Korea will challenge South Korea and a battle will occur, that will kill thousands. Culture The legitimate language of Japan is Japanese. In Japan, 83.9% is Shintoism, 71.4% is Buddhism, 2% is Christianity, and 7.8% are other. According to CIA World Fact book, as of July, 2011, the population was 126,475,664 and the growth rate is about -0.278%. Japan is in Eastern Asia, an island chain between the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean Peninsula. Japan’s ethnic groups are Japanese, Korean, and Chinese. Japan’s agricultural goods are rice, sugar beets, vegetables, fruit; pork, poultry, dairy products, eggs; fish. Nuclear Arsenal Analysis Culture The legitimate language of Pakistan is Punjabi, Sindhi, Saraiki (a Punjabi variant) Pashtu Urdu (official), Balochi, Hindko, Brahui, English (official; lingua franca of Pakistani elite and most government ministries), Burushaski, and others. In Pakistan, Muslim (Sunni and Shia), other (includes Christian and Hindu). According to CIA World Fact book, as of July, 2011, the population was 187,342,721 and the growth rate is about 1.573%. Pakistan is in Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea, between India on the east and Iran and Afghanistan on the west and China in the north. Agricultural goods in Pakistan are cotton, wheat, rice, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables; milk, beef, mutton, eggs.