A world without Nuclear Weapons

 

Opening Statement

 

“We must abolish Nuclear weapons, or they will abolish us”

By - John F.Kennedy

 

To lift the specter of mass destruction we must come together to pursue the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons threaten every city on the planet with staggering humanitarian, environmental, and economic loss. So long as they exist we will never be safe. This world will be a better place without nuclear weapons and it should be our dream.

 

 

 A Little History 

 

Ideas about eliminating the bomb are as old as the bomb itself. The movement first started in Japan in 1954, an estimated 35 million signatures were collected on a petition calling for a ban on nuclear weapons. Many different treaties were signed after that but none of them assured zero nuclear weapons. A movement known as Global Zero has gained in strength to attempt just that. It was established in January 2007 by George Shultz, Henry Kissinger, William Perry, and Sam Nunn advocating a nuclear-free world. The organization's goal is to rid the world of nuclear weapons by 2030 through a multilateral, universal, verifiable process, with negotiations on a global level.

 

 

Five reasons to support a nuclear-weapon-free world 

 

1. They cause catastrophic harm

 

“My beloved city of Hiroshima suddenly became a desolation, with heaps of ash and rubble, skeletons, and blackened corpses.” Setsuko Thurlow, Hibakusha (survivor) of the Hiroshima bombing.

This haunting witness account reminds us of the enormous destructive power of nuclear weapons. Hitting civilians and soldiers indiscriminately, they wreak devastation and have long-term radiation effects that affect future generations.

 

2. They are pointless

 

What defense can the atomic bomb provide against the main threats of our era, such as climate change, terrorism, or cyber-attacks? Nuclear weapons are totally obsolete and unable to meet today’s challenges. On the contrary, far from maintaining peace, they fuel fear and distrust between countries.

 

3. They cost us a fortune

 

While nuclear arsenals have decreased since the mid-1980s, the budgetary expenditure related to nuclear weapons is constantly on the rise. This pattern of spending of public money is found in all states which possess nuclear weapons. According to estimates, it’s close to $1000 billion for the decade of 2010-2020. 

Imagine if this money went instead to health, education, the fight against climate change, assistance to survivors, and other services to ensure human security.

4. They carry a huge proliferation risk

 

Proliferation is the risk that states that have nuclear weapons increase their weapon stockpiles or that new states become nuclear-armed. To combat these huge risks, an international non-proliferation treaty entered into force in 1970 with the aim to prevent non-nuclear states from developing nuclear weapons and to get nuclear states to reduce their arsenals.

Unfortunately, these undertakings remain for the most part empty rhetoric. How can it be possible to claim that the security of a nation is based on a nuclear deterrence policy when at the same time other nations are asked not to use this means of “security”?

5. They are the only weapons of mass destruction which have not yet been (really) banned

 

But this could change soon. While biological and chemical weapons have been prohibited worldwide, since 1972 and 1993 respectively, nuclear weapons have not been constrained up to now. This is a legal anomaly that is in the process of being fully corrected with the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons which is set to come into force in 2020, and was adopted in 2017 by 122 states at the United Nations.

Of course, states that have nuclear weapons, including France, have boycotted this Treaty. But the pressure on the nine nuclear-armed states is building – from the growing number of nations and financial institutions who are ceasing to invest in the production of these weapons systems, to thousands of people speaking out across the globe.

 

My opinion

 

This is a time of danger. Nuclear weapons could be the cause of millions of deaths on short notice and without any rational cause. Nuclear weapons have not lost their doomsday qualities. However, this may also be a time of opportunity: deep and irreversible reductions in the nuclear stockpiles of nuclear weapons. The road to zero will not be an easy one: real and serious obstacles lie ahead. But without a genuine global commitment to that goal, preventing nuclear proliferation is a lost cause.

 

 

Thank You

 

If you have any question or suggestions please let me know in the comments. 

If you want to join the Zero Nuclear Weapon movement, please visit the link given below - 

https://www.globalzero.org/reaching-zero/

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