The Effectiveness of Nuclear Weapons for Deterrence

Warfare, has been used throughout the centuries by kings, emperors, and rulers to protect their land and more so their people. There are two types of warfare, one being that of traditional warfare which generally, consists of leaders using mass armies to conquer the opposing side, however, changes in technologies and weapons meant that leaders had to rethink the way in which they fought battles. The use of gunpowder weapons changed the way in which battles were fought dating back as early as the late 13th century with the introduction of the bronze-barrelled cannon (Rietbergen, 1998). Bacon argues that with the introduction of the new technology, the way in which the state observes the rest of the world has changed. That is, trade routes made it possible for the spread of gunpowder weapons that until the end of the 13th century was not possible (Rietbergen, 1998). Philosopher, Kenneth Waltz famous for writing The Spread of Nuclear Weapons in 1981, argued that wars exist in an anarchic domain as long as there is a lust for power between States. It is also argued that if States where to go to war it is because it feels that it is at risk of attack and needs to defend itself and it’s citizens (Waltz, 1998). Therefore, it is important to initially understand background into the causes of war and the development of traditional warfare into the transformation to modern warfare. The essay will then illustrate that it was not until the Starlin era that the need for change from traditional warfare to modern warfare was evident due to the changes in areas of technology and strategies (Snyder, 2008). Furthermore, the extent of the impact of the Cold War period signified that the use of traditional warfare would be inadequate as a nuclear d...

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