Critical
Issues Forum 2008-2009
Nuclear
Disarmament:
Challenges,
Opportunities, and Next Steps
Benchmark III
The Author: Fyodor Serkov
Form 11
School №2
Students
The Advisor: Matasova Irina
Victorovna
School
№2
English
teacher
Russia, Zarechny
2009
Benchmark
III
In Benchmark III my task was to evaluate the
information I have already gained, to create my own interpretations about world
events and to demonstrate an understanding of one of the challenges related to
nuclear weapons.
In my opinion, the problem of
nuclear disarmament is extremely serious and important, especially nowadays. The invention and
spread of nuclear weapons lent greater urgency to the need for disarmament. Our
planet is too fragile to carry the stockpiles of nuclear arsenals. Today there
are too many countries which want to possess NW. Some countries believe their
power depends on the sizes of NW stockpiles.
While studying and analyzing the information
from different sources and talking to people of different generations I came to
the conclusion that there are three points of view concerning the problem of
disarmament and keeping the balance on the Earth. They are:
á
Eliminate nuclear weapons now.
á
Rely on arms control.
á
Keep nuclear weapons as an essential part of
national security.
I decided to do a research work and find out
what the students of the 11th form think about NW, they were
suggested to choose one way of keeping nuclear balance on the Earth. These are
the results of my survey:
Made
by Fyodor Serkov.
1. 19, 5% of the students think
that the way is quite reasonable but impossible. I quite agree with them as it
is an expensive process and takes a lot of time. The existence of NW causes the
necessity of different states to arm and they spend a lot of money on it. Asia
is a region where a lot of countries are developing and growing their own
nuclear potential without any serious control. They are: China, North Korea (it
is an owner of a number of nuclear warheads de facto, though it is holding nuclear
warheads tests regularly), India, and Pakistan. Besides, such countries as India,
Israel,
Pakistan,
Brazil, Cuba and North Korea are not parties to the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty but they
are widely believed to possess a nuclear arsenal. So, they can use NW and they
wonÕt break international agreements.
They are an example to follow for other countries and cause some
threats. Analysts over the world say if Japan, or South Korea, or Thailand
develop NW, that will arise a great wave of interest to the nuclear warheads
and military use of the atomic energy on the Earth. And nobody knows how
International Treaties will control it. ThatÕs why the situation in Asia is of
a particular interest all over the world.
Militarization is not the main goal of countries
of the Third World as there is a shortage of funds even on satisfying basic
peopleÕs needs. Nevertheless they continue the process of militarization.
The world is becoming unstable and difficult to
control. NW is becoming less effective nowadays. For fulfilling military tasks
there is no need in such amount of NW. US President Barack Obama has set a goal of a
Òworld without nuclear weaponsÓ, but the Pentagon calls for modernization of
nuclear arsenals. The new administration has an intention to engage Russia in
negotiations on deeper cuts in nuclear arms with the aim of reducing them to
zero.
The reason for NW elimination is also the
development of other kinds of weapons such as biological and chemical. Besides,
NW is very expensive to produce and there is a problem of its utilization.
One more reason for NW elimination is that
terrorists are looking for opportunities to acquire weapons of mass
destruction. We will not be free of dangers until nuclear weapons are
completely abolished. In my opinion, we should eliminate NW but preserve
nuclear energy and use it for peaceful purposes. We should increase our funding
of programs around the world to dismantle existing weapons and convert weapons
programs for peaceful purposes.
I think that for elimination of NW the worldÕs
mentality should be changed but itÕs impossible.
2. 41, 4% of the students chose the second point
of view as the most real. In my opinion, they are quite right. One of the major
efforts to preserve international peace and security in the 21st
century has been to control or limit the number of weapons and the ways in
which they can be used. One of the means to achieve this goal is arms control.
Arms control refers to treaties made between adversaries that reduce the
likelihood and scope of war and usually imposes limitations on military
capability.
Though rouge states are working to build or
acquire NW, the worldÕs huge stockpiles of nuclear weapons increase risk of
theft and proliferation, states canÔt eliminate NW completely. It will be
reasonable to maintain some NW in order to preserve the ability of the state to
deter a nuclear attack against it. And the best way to prevent the theft and
proliferation is carefully-negotiated international arms control agreements.
International cooperation is necessary for solving global problems. Current
nuclear powers should cooperate to reduce the worldÕs nuclear arsenals to
minimal levels.
The only way to deal with terrorism is through
cooperation of states to control their nuclear materials. The IAEA is the
biggest and the most world-wide center of
cooperation in the nuclear field to implement safeguards on nuclear materials and
promote the peaceful uses of nuclear power.
The Conference on Disarmament
is the only negotiating body for disarmament issues on the international level.
In the Conference on Disarmament 66 states participate and decisions are taken
by consensus. Within the framework of the Conference a lot of important
international agreements have been adopted, such as the Treaty on
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the Convention on the Prohibition of the
Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological and Toxin Weapon,
the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and
Stockpiling and use of Chemical Weapons, the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban
Treaty and others.
Arms control is essential as NW
is used for different peaceful purposes. History shows that this system of NW
control is very effective because the process of producing, testing and using
of NW is very dangerous, it takes a lot of time, a lot of specialists are
involved in it.
Nevertheless, the total arms control is
impossible as each country keeps its military technologies in secret. There are
some secret information connected with a technical design of a weapon and
nuclear warheads, the system of control and notification, vital plans, list of
goals and other.
Life
changes very quickly, but agreements and treaties are invariable. Arms control
is difficult to realize because bilateral and multilateral agreements require
serious changes, renewals and completions. Government should pay attention to
the extension of role of legislative power in forming military and nuclear
policy of the state.
3. 39, 1
% of students answered that the third point of view –to keep NW as an
essential part of national security-is also very important, objective and
reliable. Despite
the idea of nuclear disarmament, many countries modernize or change the nuclear
weapons in their arsenals. They continue to maintain nuclear forces for some
important reasons: the international security environment remains dangerous and
unpredictable; nuclear weapons continue to play a unique role in supporting
national security as they remain an essential element in modern strategy.
Most
nations have nuclear weapons to indicate scientific and military strength and
to declare their nuclear status, they have a desire to increase and maintain
international prestige.
Though the economic power of
Russia, political and social stability are not ensured, it has a nuclear status
as one of the worldÕs leading military powers. Nowadays modernization of
Russian strategic nuclear forces is a top priority for the government. Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Ivanov
told lawmakers in his speech on the 25th of February that the
process of upgrading ground, sea and air components of nationÕs strategic
deterrent forces is expensive but necessary.
Russian military weaknesses, for example,
shortages of precision weapons and modern communications were evident during
its August war with Georgia. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, at a meeting
with military chiefs in Moscow on the 17th of March ordered a
"large-scale" rearmament of the Russian army and navy to begin in
2011. He said Russia must upgrade its arsenals and combat readiness to fend off
threats posed by NATO's expansion, international terrorism and local conflicts.
Every state must preserve its
right and ability to attack before it is attacked.
NW
is cheaper and more effective than military forces and modern weapons with
Òelectronic fillingÓ. As for
social factor is concerned, the role of NW shouldnÕt be only destructive.
Having a psychological power, NW will be less destructive as it prevents states
from beginning a war. Elimination of NW will make the world safer for
conventional wars which can cause more heavy casualties. So itÕs necessary to
liquidate the reasons of wars, to change the system of international relations.
NW continues to be the main
factor of worldÕs policy and a lot of states donÕt want to decline it because
of its ÒvaluesÓ. For solving this urgent and global problem we shouldnÕt make
other people responsible for it, but change the system of international
relations. People should make every effort to turn things right. Governments
should find ways to change the situation for the best
and to prevent people from making such devices which are the worldÕs
greatest threat.
Bibliography
1.
International Atomic Energy AgencyÓ- Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia18 March,2009
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Atomic_Energy_Agency>
2. NTI Non-Proliferation Treaty
Tutorial.url <http://www.nti.org/h_learnmore/npttutorial/chapter02_02.html
3. Nuclear Disarmament Ò-Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.18
March, 2009
< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_disarmament>
4. ÒObamaÕs goal of a world without nuclear
weapons clashes with PentagonÓ Modernization Program.url 20 March, 2009
<http://www.strategypage.com/militaryforums/89-67944.aspx>
5. ÒPresident calls for modernizing Russia's militaryÓ 18
March, 2009
<http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hE_-OiPRaNN8o4Pov7KcF87YZtgwD96VP7QG3>
6. ÒRussia To Modernize Its Nuclear ArsenalsÓ 12
March, 2009
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20090225/eu-russia-new-weapons/>
7. ÔUnited
Nations OrganizationÓ 18 March, 2009
<http://flagspot.net/flags/uno.html >
8. ÒVerification of Nuclear Arms Control and
Disarmament TreatiesÓ 21 March , 2009
9. Ahtamzyan I. A.Ó Nuclear DisarmamentÓ-
Moscow: PIR Center,2002.