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Rarely in the atomic age have hopes been raised as high as they are now for genuine progress toward disarmament. The new receptivity reflected in the policy declarations of many governments was sparked by a wave of private initiatives led by former senior policy leaders in many countries. This book examines practical steps for achieving progress toward disarmament, realistically assessing both challenges and opportunities associated with achieving a world without nuclear weapons. The book places the current debate over nuclear abolition in the context of urgent non-proliferation priorities and the need to prevent nuclear weapons from falling into the hands of extremist regimes and terrorists. It examines the reasons why more than two dozen states have given up nuclear programs over the years and distils lessons from the end of the cold war to offer policy recommendations for moving toward lessened global reliance on nuclear weapons. Also included are in-depth analyses of proliferation challenges and disarmament opportunities in North Korea and Iran. The book concludes with a detailed roadmap for moving progressively toward global nuclear zero. It proposes a new international security regime based on shared missile defences, nonweaponized deterrence and greater efforts to enhance transnational cooperation.
Getting to Zero takes on the much-debated goal of nuclear zero—exploring the serious policy questions raised by nuclear disarmament and suggesting practical steps for the nuclear weapon states to take to achieve it. It documents the successes and failures of six decades of attempts to control nuclear weapons proliferation and, within this context, asks the urgent questions that world leaders, politicians, NGOs, and scholars must address in the years ahead.
This volume examines the conditions necessary for a stable nuclear-weapons-free world and the implications for nuclear disarmament policy. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is a road map to nuclear zero, but it is a rudimentary one and it says nothing about the kind of zero to aim for. Preferably, this would be a world where the inhibitions against reversal are strong enough to make it stably non-nuclear. What then are the requirements of stable zero? The literature on nuclear disarmament has paid little attention to this question. By and large, the focus has been on the next steps, and discussions tend to stop where the NPT stops: with the elimination of the weapons. This book seeks to fill a lacuna by examining the requirements of stable zero and their implications for the road map to that goal, starting from the vision to the present day. The volume highlights that a clear conception of the goal not only is important in itself, but can shed light on what kind of disarmament process to promote. This book will be of much interest to students of nuclear proliferation, global governance, security studies and IR.
"George H. Quester argues that the possibility of nuclear war continues to loom despite the reduction in stockpiles by the major powers. Supporters of total nuclear disarmament often dismiss pessimistic objections to the possibility of reaching nuclear zero as being hypothetical, but this book looks at real illustrations for this possibility, taken from the years that gave the world the Manhattan Project.Any advocate of total nuclear disarmament must deal with the challenge of ""realist"" analysts of international relations, those who worry that being at zero nuclear weapons, or even close to zero, would be unstable and dangerous. Mutual fears could be self-confirming, leading to cheating on disarmament, and even nuclear war. While such fears are often dismissed as theoretical or hypothetical, this book attempts to test them against the real-life experience of the last time we were at nuclear zero. The years from 1933 to 1945 saw many such self-confirming fears, leading to the Manhattan Project and the nuclear destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.Optimism about the future cannot be ruled out totally, but the history of our experience with nuclear disarmament must be examined carefully to identify the crucial prerequisites for elimination of such weapons of mass destruction. This book is required reading for courses on arms control, defense policy, and international relations, or for readers looking for historical background on a critical global issue."
The Path to Zero argues that it is time to re-open the public debate on nuclear weapons. In a series of clear and well-reasoned dialogues, long-time scholars and peace activists Richard Falk and David Krieger probe key questions about our nuclear capability and dig beneath the secrecy that has largely surrounded its existence. Falk and Krieger argue that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were only the beginning. In recent times, nuclear annihilation at the hands of rogue states and terrorists has become an even greater concern than the spectre of nuclear war between superpowers. The Path to Zero argues that whilst none of us has the power to bring about global change alone, together we are immensely powerful - powerful enough to overcome the threats of the Nuclear Age and move us appreciably along 'the path to zero'.
This volume of essays, a map of the road to zero, gives the reader a primer on the current state of nuclear disarmament, provides an up-to-date argument for the merits of a nuclear-weapon-free world, and outlines the steps needed to attain that goal. Its editor is Joseph Rotblat, the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize winner. The volume assesses recent efforts by scholars, military leaders, and political figures in advocating the elimination of nuclear weapons. It brings to focus the major dilemmas of disarmament, including verification, nuclear theft, and diplomatic and security issues; and argues for why these obstacles must be overcome. Finally, a comprehensive review of the steps needed to achieve a nuclear-weapon-free world is presented. }Over the past decade the concept of a world free of all nuclear weapons has transformed from a fanciful dream to a subject of serious study and action. Will it be possible for the international community to agree not simply to reduce the number of nuclear weapons to low levels, but to reduce it to zero? This volume of essays, a map of the road to zero, gives the reader a primer on the current state of nuclear disarmament, provides an up-to-date argument for the merits of a nuclear-weapon-free world, and outlines the steps needed to attain that goal. Its editor is Joseph Rotblat, the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize winner. The volume assesses recent efforts by scholars, military leaders, and political figures to advocate the elimination of nuclear weapons. It brings to focus the major dilemmas of disarmament, including verification, nuclear theft, and diplomatic and security issues; and argues for why these obstacles must be overcome. Finally, a comprehensive review of the steps needed to achieve a nuclear-weapon-free world is presented.
One photojournalist's decade-long commitment, a gripping collection of portraits and interviews of those whose lives were crossed by radioactive fallout.
This unique study examines the issue of nuclear deterrence and disarmament. Nuclear deterrence, like climate change, is a devilishly complex issue that tends to polarize its community of experts. Disarmament advocates talk about the catastrophic dangers posed by large nuclear weapon stockpiles. Proponents discuss the inherent security advantages provided by nuclear deterrence. With some notable exceptions, attitudes among world leaders in the past 40 years tend to support reduced weapon stockpiles and policies to prevent proliferation. The U.S., by virtue of its large nuclear stockpile and stature as a global superpower, remains a leader for this issue. U.S. leadership has long stated a policy towards nuclear disarmament that is conditional on the world environment and preserving security of U.S. interests and allies. This policy has generated numerous proposals by various strategists to reduce the U.S. nuclear stockpile to levels well below the current force structure. Inevitably, each proposal generates considerable debate about the quantity of the reduction. This paper contends that quantity of reductions should not be the primary focus of debate. Rather proposals should be analyzed within the larger context of a chronological continuum with New START as the initial point and global zero as the end point. This approach aligns the entire community along the same framework and permits objective analysis of each proposal's stated deterrence objectives, how they derive credibility for these objectives, and implications to U.S. policy. Several proposals were examined in the paper to populate the continuum. The end result shows that the process of reducing the U.S. stockpile to low numbers will have profound implications to U.S. nuclear policy that have not been adequately discussed or tested. Debate over what the 'right' number of weapons is must shift to how the U.S. credibly drives to zero. On 5 April 2009, President Obama spoke at Hradcany Square in Prague and declared "So today, I state clearly and with conviction America's commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons." The President's speech and follow-on policy in the 2010 Nuclear Posture Review emphasized a renewed focus on reducing the U.S. nuclear arsenal with a long-term goal of global nuclear disarmament. The New START Treaty, entered into force on February 5, 2011, was another tangible result of this focus on the 'road to zero.' While even the staunchest advocates admit total disarmament could take generations, if ever, these events imply a commitment to cut stockpiles that go far beyond previous arms control agreements and unilateral actions and have reenergized focus on various proposals for deeper reductions. Most of these proposals are essentially static analyses that claim deterrence would be preserved at some new stockpile threshold. Inevitably, strategists then spend considerable time arguing why the various thresholds either 'go too far' or 'don't go far enough.' With all due respect to the experts, I contend they are missing the point. Rather than supporting or tearing apart each new proposal based on subjective stockpile numbers, proposals should be evaluated dynamically along a chronological continuum. This framework accommodates the idea that various thresholds may be valid at different times. Thus, it becomes more important to evaluate proposals based on their stated deterrence objectives, how they derive credibility for these objectives, and implications to U.S. policy when aligned chronologically along the 'road to zero.' To examine this approach, I will use several proposals that are representative of different points along the continuum.
This book makes a passionate argument that the only sane and rational number of nuclear weapons is zero...the author dispels the myth that nuclear deterrence provides protection to a country and argues there exists a human responsibility to eliminate nuclear weapons before they eliminate us. -- Publisher's description.
In 2007 two former U.S. secretaries of state, a defense secretary, and a former senator wrote persuasively in the Wall Street Journal that the time had come to move seriously toward a nuclear-free world. Almost two years later, the Global Zero movement was born with its chief aim to rid the world of such weapons once and for all by 2030. But is it realistic or even wise to envision a world without nuclear weapons? More and more people seem to think so. Barack Obama has declared “America’s commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.” But that is easier said than done. Michael O’Hanlon places his own indelible stamp on this critical issue, putting forth a “friendly skeptic’s case for nuclear disarmament.” Calls to “ban the bomb” are as old as the bomb itself, but the pace and organization of nonproliferation campaigns have picked up greatly recently. The growing Global Zero movement, for example, wants treaty negotiations to begin in 2019. Would this be prudent or even feasible in a world that remains dangerous, divided, and unpredictable? After all, America’s nuclear arsenal has been its military trump card for much of the period since World War II. Pursuing a nuclear weapons ban prematurely or carelessly could alarm allies, leading them to consider building their own weapons—the opposite of the intended effect. O’Hanlon clearly presents the dangers of nuclear weapons and the advantages of disarmament as a goal. But even once an accord is in place, he notes, temporary suspension of restrictions may be necessary in response to urgent threats such as nuclear “cheating” or discovery of an advanced biological weapons program. To take all nuclear options off the table forever strengthens the hand of those that either do not make that pledge or do not honor it. For the near term, traditional approaches to arms control, including dismantling existing bomb inventories, can pave the way to make a true nonproliferation regime possible in the decades ahead.