As a follow-up of a historic international conference on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons (Oslo, March 2013), the government of Mexico hosted a 2nd international conference from 13-14 February 2014 in Nuevo Vallarta, a residential resort community in the state of Nayarit, to build momentum for an ambitious diplomatic process that puts the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons the essence of nuclear disarmament efforts and achievement of a nuclear weapons free world, NTI reports.
Delegations representing 146 States from every region of the world, the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement and civil society organizations, participated in that conference. Delegations from at least 32 governments in Africa participated in the meeting. Discussions focused on the global and long-term consequences of any nuclear detonation, accidental or deliberate, from the perspective and concerns of the 21st century society, including areas such as public health, humanitarian assistance, the economy, development and environmental issues, climate change, food security, and risk management.
Presentations and statements during the Nayarit conference substantiated nuclear weapons are dangerous and destructive, as in Oslo before it. Information and analysis of the catastrophic humanitarian consequence of a nuclear weapon detonation or a nuclear exchange by expert panellists from UN agencies, academics, former military officials, and civil society organizations emphasized that the continued existence, possession, and deployment of nuclear weapons anyway in the world is an existential threat to the future of humanity and the planet. The evidence present...
... middle of paper ...
...mpact of nuclear weapons detonations has increasingly been recognized as a fundamental and global concern that must be at the core of all deliberations on nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation, as well as a relevant issue in the 21st century global security agenda.
The Nayarit conference was the second to be held on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons. In March 2013, Norway hosted the first conference on this subject. On 13 February 2014 morning, on the first day of the Nayarit conference, the government of Austria announced that it would host a third conference to continue the dialogue. Now that an intergovernmental conference has begun on the catastrophic consequence of nuclear weapons, civil society and academic experts can discuss on panels with government representatives to build momentum and confidence for a treaty banning nuclear weapons.
...amatic Reduction in Nuclear Weapons : News Headlines." - Catholic Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2014
International organizations such as NATO and the UN are essential not only for global peace, but also as a place where middle powers can exert their influence. It is understandable that since the inception of such organizations that many crises have been averted, resolved, or dealt with in some way thro...
Scott D. Sagan, the author of chapter two of “More Will Be Worse”, looks back on the deep political hostilities, numerous crises, and a prolonged arms race in of the cold war, and questions “Why should we expect that the experience of future nuclear powers will be any different?” The author talks about counter arguments among scholars on the subject that the world is better off without nuclear weapons. In this chapter a scholar named Kenneth Waltz argues that “The further spread of nuclear weapons may well be a stabilizing factor in international relations.” He believes that the spread of nuclear weapons will have a positive implications in which the likely-hood of war decreases and deterrent and defensive capabilities increase. Although there
Nuclear weapons are a problem that the world is facing today as countries want to have their
August 5, 1945. A day that the entire world will remember, as it was the day that the first of two nuclear strikes against Japan ended World War Two. Although at the time “Fat Man” and “Little Boy” were the lesser of two evils, they started an arms race like the world has never seen. The Soviet Union, America, Great Britain, France, and later China, all started to produce nuclear weapons. The arsenals of these countries would soon number in the tens of thousands. Recently there have been pushes to rid the world of these weapons that can kill an entire city with a single push of a button. Although these weapons are in the eyes of several governments a necessary tool to have, the public, however, disagrees. The Americans in particular have been debating the issue for several years. But for America to still pose a threat to other countries, the nuclear arsenal of the United States of America should not be completely depleted but upgraded and decreased to where our enemies still fear us. But we have to make sure that we do not break the bank in the process.
Nuclear Arms, as opposed to conventional arms, generate their destructive force from nuclear reactions. The issues that are related to the use of nuclear weapons is also far different than the issues generated by conventional bombs. The long term
The Korean peninsula has gradually been attracting international attention because of North Korea’s refusal of access for International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspection of its nuclear facilities. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was signed on July 1, 1968 by USA, USSR and UK. Subsequently, the NPT was opened for signature by other countries and enacted on March 5, 1970. Till date, except India, Pakistan and Israel, all the other 189 member-countries of the UN have signed it. However, North Korea withdrew from the treaty on April 10, 2003. (Jayaprakash) After the collapse of USSR, independent post-Soviet countries started to abandon their nuclear weapon capabilities and decided to cooperate with the international nuclear disarma...
"The Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty Has a Proud Record of Success « Nuclear-news." Nuclear-news. Web. 06 Apr. 2011. .
Out of all the dangerous powers and authority our government wields, possibly the most threatening powers are nuclear weapons. People tend to be frightened by things they do not understand, which make nuclear weapons a perfect catalyst for fear. These weapons have the most overwhelming and destructive power known to man; although, nuclear weapons are only safe in countries that try to maintain harmony and stability. Nuclear weapons are defined as “explosive devices whose destructive potential derives from the release of energy that accompanies the splitting or combining of atomic nuclei.” This power is both dangerous and unstable in the hands of small erratic countries.
In today’s society many countries and even citizens of the United States question the U.S. government’s decision to get in involved in nuclear warfare. These people deemed it unnecessary and state that the U.S. is a hypocrite that preaches peace, but causes destruction and death. Before and during World War II the U.S. was presented with a difficult decision on whether or not to develop and use the atomic bomb.
The development and usage of the first atomic bombs has caused a change in military, political, and public functionality of the world today. The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki revolutionized warfare by killing large masses of civilian population with a single strike. The bombs’ effects from the blast, extreme heat, and radiation left an estimated 140,000 people dead. The bombs created a temporary resolution that lead to another conflict. The Cold War was a political standoff between the Soviet Union and the United States that again created a new worldwide nuclear threat. The destructive potential of nuclear weapons had created a global sweep of fear as to what might happen if these terrible forces where unleashed again. The technology involved in building the first atomic bombs has grown into the creation of nuclear weapons that are potentially 40 times more powerful than the original bombs used. However, a military change in strategy has came to promote nuclear disarmament and prevent the usage of nuclear weapons. The technology of building the atomic bomb has spurred some useful innovations that can be applied through the use of nuclear power. The fear of a potential nuclear attack had been heightened by the media and its release of movies impacting on public opinion and fear of nuclear devastation. The lives lost after the detonation of the atomic bombs have become warning signs that changed global thinking and caused preventative actions.
From the creation of nuclear weapons at the start of the Cold War to today, the world has experienced struggles fueled by the want of nuclear power. The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Iran’s nuclear weapon program are some of the most important conflicts over nuclear weapons. Thanks to the use of nuclear weapons in 1945 to end World War II, the world has come extremely close to a nuclear war, and more countries have began developing nuclear power. Unmistakably, many conflicts since the start of the Cold War have been caused by nuclear weapons, and there are many more to come.
Should all countries in the world be able to develop their own nuclear weapons? More importantly, if so, can these countries be trusted? Richard Rhodes, the author of the essay entitled “Living with the bomb,” believes that they can. With cooperation and negotiations Rhodes believes nations can secure the deadly materials from which weapons of mass destruction are made of (Rhodes). He also believes that this will help reduce arsenals which will help eliminate possible future risks (640). The author somehow believes that regardless of the tensions in the Middle East and its surrounding countries, they are worthy of our trust in a matter as great and serious as their development of nuclear weapons. Throughout his essay, Rhodes cites several cases throughout history where there have been direct threats due to the fact that certain countries simply cannot be trusted. Nuclear weapons are an extremely big deal in our world today, especially when it comes to terrorism. The idea of relying only on cooperation to secure the materials required to build nuclear weapons is outrageous, and the only program that would eliminate all threats would be by disarming all countries of their nuclear programs.
In 1945, when the Americans bombed Hiroshima, Japan, approximately 140,000 men and women were instantly killed by the effects of American nuclear defense. With such extreme brutality and force how many people must die for one to finally realize the strengths of nuclear bombs and what damage they can cause. Nuclear weapons should be outlawed because they kill thousands of innocent humans at a time, destroy the environment, and inviolate human’s right to moral and personal freedoms.
It is a well-known fact that the dropping of the two atomic bombs near the end of World War II in 1945 ushered in the dawn of the Atomic Age. For the first time in human history, the world was introduced to the awesome power of nuclear weapons. Since that time, there have been several different nuclear threats to the world, and one of those threats can be found along the Pacific Rim, in the country of North Korea. Like the dropping of the atomic bombs, it is also known that the North Korean government has admitted to possessing nuclear weapons, and in doing so, it stands as a silent, potential nuclear danger to the rest of the world.