On Nuclear Weapons

National Peace Essay Competition : 

Nuclear Weapons   

Category: Writing and Poetry  

(Written by James Wilcox ~ December 2005) 

Throughout history, as long as there have been civilized people, there have always been others who oppose the self-evident, eternal truths of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Throughout the ages, man has always had conflicts.  From sticks and stones, to sword and shields, to guns and bunkers; through time there has always been opposition in all things.[1]

In the 21st Century, we, as a race, are indifferent from our ape-like predecessors.  Mankind continues to fight, but on a much grandeur scale, a nuclear scale.  There is no longer anywhere on the earth where nuclear weapons can not reach.  There arent any places left where there is even a state of relative safety.  Accordingly, there is a great need for proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.[2]



When there is a need, men rise or great nations fall.  In the past couple decades there has been a rise of nuclear powers, and with it, a cry of peace.  But, as in all things, there has been success and failure.  Some nations have banded together and intricately developed peace, while others continue to develop weapons and push for a global war.  Two cases are the Treaty of Tlatelolco, with its success in Latin America, and the India and Pakistan Conflict with its failures and constant rising level of nuclear tension.

The Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America marks an important milestone in the long and difficult search for disarmament.[3]  The Latin American countries Argentina, Chile, and Brazil, wanted to develop and create nuclear weapons ever since the late 1960s, to use as a defense to protect their continent and develop nuclear technologies for peace.  However, because of how nuclear mechanics work, nuclear weapons are aimed at nuclear weapons, the citizens of those countries did not want any nuclear weapons.
The answer for their situation was the Treaty of Tlatelolco. In late 1970s, Latin America came together in a series of conventions in which they created what is now known as the Treaty of Tlatelolco.  This treaty prohibited any nuclear weapons in Central and South America, while still promising access to peaceful nuclear technologies from other nuclear weapons states.

The Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America, Desiring to contribute, towards ending the armaments race, especially in the field of nuclear weapons, and towards strengthening a world at peace, based on the sovereign equality of States, mutual respect and good neighborliness, Recalling and instating the total prohibition of the use and manufacture of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction of every type, Convinced that incalculable destructive power of nuclear weapons has made it imperative that the legal prohibition of war should be strictly observed in practice if the survival of civilization and of mankind itself is to be assured,[4]

The treaty continues to say that the only way to stop a nuclear war is not to build the weapons in the first place, and that the only way to effectively protect Latin America is through creating a nuclear free zone.  This treaty has been a great continuing success story.  White House officials have stated It will strengthen the security of countries throughout the Western Hemisphere and reinforce the worldwide nonproliferation regime.[5]
            The success of the Treaty of Tlatelolco is directly related to the fact that it still allows the countries to receive the benefits from nuclear discoveries, and that it was unanimously signed by all the Latin America countries.  By getting everyone to sign it, the countries dont feel the negative pressure of nuclear weapons aimed at them.  The Treaty of Tlatelolco was officially signed on April 22, 1968, and continues in full force today.  Its blessings continue to reach out to Argentina, Barbados, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guyana, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama,Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
            On the other hand, it is a different story in India and Pakistan.  India has always maintained that its decision to pursue a nuclear program was the result of continual and, from its point of view, intolerable discrimination by the nuclear states against the nuclear have-nots.  Alternatively, Pakistan has always maintained that its decision to pursue nuclear technology was the result ofIndias decision.  Yet, now that the tests are finished, and India and Pakistan have proclaimed their self-appointed status as members of the nuclear states, neither has made any move toward ending the discrimination against which they supposedly resisted.

Indeed, they have gone on to sign both the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and the Non-Proliferation Treaty once their nuclear capabilities were demonstrated.  In both cases, it has been carefully designed to enhance their own countries national pride through claims of being the victim and that they have a moral right to build up their own nuclear weapons to protect themselves.  Through their action, it is obvious that both countries have shown just how much the entire nuclear charade was based not on resisting, but emulating the members of the nuclear club.

On February 20, 1999, Indian Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, met with Pakistani President, Nawaz Sharif, at Lahore, raising hopes of nuclear proliferation. On February 21, the two prime ministers came together and signed the "Lahore Declaration." The treaty committed the two nations to unite peacefully, to resolve their differences and to take immediate steps for reducing the risk of accidental or unauthorized use of nuclear weapons and discuss concepts and doctrines with a view to elaborating measures for confidence building in the nuclear and conventional fields, aimed at prevention of conflict. [6]

However, development continued on India's nuclear delivery systems, and on April 11, 1999, India conducted a test flight of the 2,500 kilometer Agni-II missile. Three days later, Pakistanresponded accordingly with a test flight of the Ghauri II.  The two test launches, openly displayed the façade of the Lahore Declaration, revealing it as nothing more than an international display.

The treaty failed because there was not enough momentum behind it.  There was not enough mass, or strength in the Nuclear Treaty.  There was just too much on the line to simply leave it up to trust on whether or not that the other country would follow.  Even with recent talks about setting up a hot-line for communication, tensions still rise. [7] Because of their physical position, even a local nuclear war between the two countries would lead to millions dead and possibly lead into a full scale nuclear war.

Nonetheless, both countries continue to strive to be world powers.  However, for either of them to even have a chance, it would require that they to stop evading the responsibility inherently required by the decision to have nuclear weapons.  Instead, both have preferred to combine public displays of nuclear macho with incredulous plans for peace.  For example, on August 17, 1999, India formalized its declared status as a nuclear power and proposed the doctrine governing its nuclear arsenal, entitled the "Draft Report of National Security Advisory Board on Indian Nuclear Doctrine".  The document clearly stated that they, India, would not use nuclear weapons as first strike weapons.  On the other hand, Pakistan has clearly stated that it would.  Although development of this no first use policy is an important step towards disarmament, it is all too often be used as an excuse to build an excessive amount of second use weapons.[8] As both Nations continued to develop larger, stronger, and longer reaching weapons, and the tension mounted, the second use weapons became indistinguishable from the first use.  

With genocide of the human race around the corner, those seeking for peace can no longer hide.  The true heroes of today, they who have the power of multilateral comprehension, must rise, go beyond our war-like ancestors, and unite for peace.  They must unite equally and be greater than the opposition.  We must unite on an international scale, so that men from every corner of the darkest countries can hear, join, and stand in the light of peace.

            We, as a race, must all learn.  We need to constantly strive in our communities to come together and challenge global nuclear threats and its byproducts.  Then, with our knowledge, we must act and reach out.  Through action we can unite as a race and effectively fight off the eternal evils of oppression and nuclear powers.  Only then will we be able to live without fear and achieve.
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Works Cited

[1]               [1] Philip E. Tetlock, Charles Tilly, Behavior, Society and Nuclear war: Volume One. (New York: Oxford Press, 1989) 209-333
[2]           Nathan E Busch, No End in Sight: The Continuing Menace of Nuclear Proliferation (Kentucky: University Press, 2003)
[3]           Robert H. Holden and Eric Zolov, Latin America and the United States (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000) 250-259.
[4]           Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean Bureau of Nonproliferationhttp://www.state.gov/t/ac/trt/4796.htm May 1972
[5]           William Perry, Latin America Treaty Nuclear Free Zone News Briefs January 25, 1994.
[6]           The Lahore Declaration Embassy of India http://www.indianembassy.org/South_Asia/Pakistan/lahoredeclaration.html February 1999.
[7]           Suhasini Haidar, "Nuke hotline for India, Pakistan." CNN 20 June 2004.
[8]           "Treaty India's Nuclear Weapons Program EnviroLink Network http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/India/IndiaNPower.html May 2001.