Opinion Policy Analysis by Annabelle Ghanem, Staff Writer

September 28th, 2020

The 26th of September marks the United Nations’ International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, a day used to remind us of the ongoing efforts put towards achieving one of the entity’s earliest goals, worldwide nuclear disarmament. Following the infamous second world war, where mankind received its first glance at the magnitude of destruction able to be concocted by releasing weapons of mass destruction onto civilizations, it became evident that such battle tools should never see the light of day. Thus, several treaties were drafted between respective countries, and between the entire international community to contain the spread and use of nuclear proliferation until its final abolishment. However, despite the international effort to reach worldwide disarmament, we have seen little to no change in the count and status of nuclear weapons around the world, with an estimated 13,400 nuclear weapons remaining today. Why haven’t we been able to achieve universal nuclear disarmament?

This stand-still can be traced back to the lack of cooperation between the countries who have legally acquired and constructed nuclear weapons, along with their allies who have no interest in seeing their international stances weakened without weapons of mass destruction on their discussion tables. Currently, nine countries around the world have legally manufactured or obtained nuclear weaponry, beginning with the United States of America and Russia, the majority holders of nuclear weapons today. For years these two nations have come extremely close to deploying their nuclear arsenals, particularly during the Cold War of 1947 to 1991. Nevertheless, both states have been bound by treaties, year after year, preventing them from possessing nuclear power beyond a limited amount, and deploying them at any cost. However, recent updates have indicated that “the treaty between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (“new START”) will expire in February 2021”, loosening the rails on both nations’ nuclear arsenals should they no longer wish to extend. 

The remaining United Nations Security Council permanent members, France, the United Kingdom, and China, are also three of the nine states to have nuclear weapons within their borders. 

France currently has the third largest nuclear arsenal in the world. The nation has continuously complied with disarmament efforts along the years, by reducing its weapon count by one-third. However, it is unlikely that the nation would comply with further demands seeing as other states have yet to cooperate in the same fashion. 

The United Kingdom has led an independent nuclear weapons program for decades, seeing the manufacturing of such weaponry as a key component in maintaining the nation’s international “status as a global power.” With that being said, it seems as though the United Kingdom has no intentions of reducing its nuclear weapon possession, with Britain confirming this last February that a new nuclear warhead project was on the horizon.

China’s approach towards the manufacturing of nuclear weapons is a defensive one. The nations’ leaders believe that by accumulating such proliferation, the nation will remain at a strong position against its enemies, particularly as we’ve seen in recent news updates, with the United States of America. The ongoing tension between both states has further derailed the disarmament process within the two powerhouses, making it very unlikely for further UN initiatives to reach much ground.

The occupational state of israel has also been given access to nuclear weaponry, creating a large form of power instability within the Middle East. Surrounded for years by enemies in the region, the israelis sought out nuclear weaponry as a last resort against any form of attack or rebellion. Backed by the United States and Western countries, the nation has managed to sustain its dominant presence to this day without the employment of its nuclear arsenal. However, israel stresses that before any negotiations may commence regarding a Middle East Nuclear Weapons Free Zone, peaceful relations between the Jewish and Arab states must be established. And although just last year, the idea of publicpeaceful relations between the members of the region seemed like a far fetched idea, it has now become a recurring pattern, with news of Arab states normalizing relations with israel becoming the norm at this point in time in 2020. Therefore, disarmament negotiations might be taking place sooner than originally predicted. 

 A decades long rivalry has also been strengthened by the inclusion of a nuclear war threat. To this day, both Pakistan and India have growing nuclear arsenals, and have not signed the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty, magnifying the risks of employing weapons of mass destruction against one another. In fact, it has been reported this year that despite false claims of India’s lack of advancements within the field of nuclear weapons, it actually has the fastest growing nuclear programme in the world right now. Pakistan has also been working to grow its nuclear arsenal, and has shown no signs of complying to disarmament protocols any time soon. The tension between these two powerhouses is arguably the most dangerous one to this day, with matters only becoming worse this year in regards to the Kashmir situation. “Arms control investigators have long identified the subcontinent as one of the world’s likeliest nuclear flashpoints,” making it pivotal for international missions and organizations to focus on the immediate nuclear disarmament of both nations, before the consequences become irreversible.

Last but not least, the ninth country that is unwelcomingly possessing nuclear weapons is none-other than North Korea, assembling its nuclear arsenal as recently as the year 2016. The nation’s program has been developing vastly along the years, despite United Nations sanctions, Security Council resolutions, and pressure from foreign powers all working to contain nuclear accumulation by the state. In fact, it was reported in 2019 that North Korea had “continued maintenance and construction of nuclear facilities, though it declared no nuclear tests and carried out no intercontinental ballistic missile launches.” Leader Kim Jong Un has expressed that his hunt and pursuit of nuclear weaponry is to better position themselves against foreign powers who would harm them. The North Korean leader announced this year that  “new policies for further increasing the nuclear war deterrence of the country and putting the strategic armed forces on high alert” are being drafted, and will be put into action at the earliest convenience. 

These nations, along with their allies have continuously blocked the advancements made by entities such as the United Nations, that move to eradicate nuclear proliferation around the world, utilizing fear over each other, and over every nation that does not possess weapons of such strength. Thus, it is no secret that we have an unjust imbalance in our world, that must undoubtedly be tackled. 

However despite the definite prevalence of nuclear weaponry around the globe, we can see a significant decline in the amount of weapons present since the Cold War. In the year 1986, over seventy thousand nuclear weapons were recorded. A few years later, that number had decreased by over fifty-five thousand, a significant turning point for worldwide peace and stability in a time of excruciating conflict. Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there. As we began reaching the very last strongholds and numbers of nuclear weaponry, nations became more protective over their respective reserves, making the job of international entities working towards complete disarmament much harder to do. However with more delays, comes more political unrest. 

It is only natural that several non-nuclear powers have been trying to accumulate weapons of mass destruction at this point in time, after noticing that universal disarmament has become an almost impossible task. Many leaders have expressed interest in acquiring and manufacturing nuclear weapons, most recently the leaders of Saudi Arabia and The United Arab Emirates, despite their strong diplomatic ties with several nuclear powers. 

It has become evident that the clear instability and imbalance of power in the world are only going to push nations to further maintain if not augment the presence of nuclear weapons on our planet. Employing nuclear weaponry and force on civilizations is nothing but a barbaric act, one that will destroy and harm a portion of mankind for years to come. The Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are to this very day still facing biological and environmental aftermaths from the US atomic bomb dropped during the second world war. 

Therefore, it is the duty of the current nuclear powers to revoke their unwelcomed nuclear proliferations and arsenals, to prevent a coming rise in such weaponry, and for the greater good of humanity.