Nuclear Weapons Part I
What is the U.S.A.’s top priority regarding nuclear weapons? To stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Proliferation=spread of nuclear weapons. Current U.S. leadership has vowed to ensure that no terrorist organization or non-nuclear country gains control of nuclear weapons
Which states have nuclear weapons? U.S.A. (1,950 operational nuclear weapons) Russia (1,740 operational nuclear weapons) Great Britain France China India Pakistan Israel (In total there are approx. 17,300 nuclear weapons in the world, the U.S.A. & Russia have 16,200 of them).
“A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought “A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.”-Ronald Reagan & Mikael Gorbachev, 1986 ? So why do the USA and Russia and 6 other countries have so many?
Answer: The Cold War and Deterrence Read pages 4-8, stop @ Cuban Missile Crisis How did the Cold War create a nuclear arms race? Why did deterrence become the essential strategy for the leaders of the Cold War?
Deterrence: 6. Deterrence was based…. on the idea that the threat of nuclear retaliation could actually prevent one side from starting a nuclear war. Threatretaliationwar Whatever powerful states can do to maintain their threat, its worth it. So what resulted?
The Cold War Arms Race Doomsday machine The balance of terror #7. In what year did the number of Soviet weapons surpass U.S. weapons? Some of the alarming language of the Nuclear Era….. Doomsday machine The balance of terror Mutually Assured Destruction “better dead than red” Hot line Massive retaliation Brinkmanship…
Its no wonder people did this… Or this… Or even this
How did policy makers begin to address the concerns and paranoia of Americans? Arms Control Using treaties, international organizations, and diplomacy to limit the building, spreading, testing, or potential use of nuclear weapons. What were some of the examples of arms control throughout the nuclear era?
Treaties and agreements: N.P.T. C.T.B.T. Post-Cold War treaties and programs
N.P.T. Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Signed by 189 nations Attempts to limit the spread of nuclear weapons and technology The most widely recognized arms control treaty on the world 3 components are… India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea do not abide by the terms of the treaty.
C.T.B.T. Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty 66 nations signed, U.S. did not ratify An agreement to end nuclear weapons testing, based off of earlier test ban treaties in the late 1960s. U.S. has a moratorium on testing nukes, and has the scientific capability to know if their weapons work without testing them.
Post Cold War Treaties and programs: TREATY/AGREEMENT NAME DATE Description S.T.A.R.T. (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) 1994 Russia and USA agree to limit their nuclear arsenals to 6,000 each S.O.R.T. (Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty) 2003 Russia and USA agree to limit their nuclear arsenals to 1,700-2,000 each New S.T.A.R.T. 2012 Russia/USA 1,550 each by 2018 Cooperative Threat Reduction Program (Nunn-Lugar Program) 1991-2002 Dismantled, disposed of, and safely stored over 7,000 nukes until Russia stopped participating in 2012.
So what. Have these treaties actually worked So what? Have these treaties actually worked? Don’t we still deal with dangerous nuclear threats in the international community all the time?
Why is it still necessary to control nuclear weapons? Go back to page 14 in Nuclear Weapons part II. Identify the 4 arguments against nuclear weapons, then answer the following question…. Have treaties such as the N.P.T. and others succeeded in supporting any of these arguments? If so which ones and how significantly?
3 Proliferation cases (PAGES 20-23) Iran India-Pakistan North Korea Re-read each case. Was the International community successful in preventing proliferation of nuclear weapons in these 3 cases? If the answer is no, what was the reason why?