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IS ARMS CONTROL THE ANSWER? What makes WMDs different? Chem, bio, & nuke vs. conventional weapons They seem.

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Presentation on theme: "IS ARMS CONTROL THE ANSWER? What makes WMDs different? Chem, bio, & nuke vs. conventional weapons They seem."— Presentation transcript:

1 IS ARMS CONTROL THE ANSWER? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUyQu5qSGDM What makes WMDs different? Chem, bio, & nuke vs. conventional weapons They seem so 20 th Century, so why do (some) countries want WMDs? How much is enough? Deterrence and mutually assured destruction (aka “massive retaliation's”; arguments for proliferation The security dilemma. We don’t want them, but… Why isn’t extended deterrence enough? The stability-instability paradox: Once you have them, what else can you do? (Israel, Pakistan, and the US as examples?) Legitimacy issues & claims to hegemony (domestic, regional, intl.)

2 Nuclear Warheads (Stockpiled, not deployed; the US and the Russia account for 95 % of the world’s nuclear weapons)

3 THE WMD’STIMELINE WWI: Extensive use by all sides 1945 first nuclear weapon used; plutonium based (roughly equal to 15K tons of dynamite, killing 120K people) 1949 USSR tests, 1952 UK tests 1950s development of hydrogen bombs (a 20 megaton bomb = 20 million tons of dynamite) 1957 Soviets test first ICBMs (the space race) 1957 Atoms for Peace effort; Intl. Atomic Energy Agency 1958 France tests 1961 Cuban Missile Crisis 1964 China tests, today a few 100 Since then: Israel, Pakistan, India, South Africa & N. Korea Other important developments: silo hardening, missile technology, MIRVs, tactical nukes, SLBMs (subs), ABMs, SDI (1987) grows up in the 2000s

4 WHY HAVE WE SOUGHT TO IMPOSE ARMS LIMITATIONS? International norms and tipping points How valuable are nukes today to the most powerful states?: Not very powerful Conventional vs. WMD capability gaps: What’s easiest and cheapest weapon for rising states to develop? The credibility problem for major powers’ WMDs, especially with extended deterrence: USSR in Afghanistan, US in Vietnam The morality issue (domestic and foreign) Are nukes offensive or defensive? Hard to tell The rogue regime & terrorism problem The number of actors and uncertainty

5 EFFORTS AT DISARMAMENT First things first: What’s the problems with the way intl treaties work? You can back out The Geneva Protocol of 1925 bans use of chemical weapons 1968/1970: NPT (Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons) 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty; ‘67 Space, ‘59 Antarctica 1972 ABM/SALT treaties bw US/USSR Encode MAD assumptions and tries to limit mistakes ICBM limits (1,500ish ) / SLBM limits (700ish) 1974: SALT—Limits total warheads & number of MIRVs (800ish) 1980s START; Reagan wanted to look into no nuke policy 1987 Missile Technology Control Regime 1993 South Africa gives up nukes, joining Post-Soviet countries Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993: Stockpiling & production 1996 CTBT opens for signatures (US hasn’t signed) The 2002 agreement: 2,200 warhead target & 1600 delivery vehicles apiece for the US/Russia 2010: 1500-1700 warheads & 800 vehicles (bombers + sea/land missiles)


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