Rethinking Nuclear Weapons: A Call for Disarmament

Dec 26, 2024

Opinion: Nuclear Weapons Are Not a Fact of Life

Introduction

  • Author: Beatrice Fihn, director of Lex International Fund, former executive director of ICAN (Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons).
  • Context: Increasing nuclear threats globally (Russia, USA, China) and escalating tensions among nuclear-armed states.

Main Argument

  • Nuclear weapons are not an inevitable part of human existence; they can be abolished with efforts from ordinary people.

Historical Precedents

  • Chemical Weapons:
    • US and Russia once possessed over 70,000 tons of chemical weapons.
    • By July 7, 2023, the US announced the destruction of its chemical weapon stockpiles, aligning with the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention.
    • Russia completed its destruction earlier.
    • Violations (e.g., Syria 2018) lead to international condemnation without strategic benefit.

Inefficiency of Nuclear Weapons

  • Military Utility:
    • Nuclear weapons are inefficient, clumsy, costly, and lack practical utility.
    • Use would cause catastrophic destruction, civilian casualties, and cross-border radioactive spread.
    • Nations acknowledge they should never be used.
  • Deterrence:
    • Their power is psychological, based on deterrence rather than practical military use.
    • Deterrence is only effective as long as adversaries perceive it as such, making it a vulnerable strategy.

Conclusion

  • The essay argues for rethinking nuclear weapons not as tools of power but as dangerous liabilities.
  • Calls for action at both governmental and civilian levels to push for nuclear disarmament.