Nuclear Weapons (Lec 4) Flashcards
Nuclear Weapons in Warfare
First and only ones used were the atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima nearing the end of WW2
- Developed under direction of Oppenheimer
Nuclear Weapons
Weapons that use nuclear fisison (atomic bomb) or nuclear fusion (hydrogen bomb) to destroy their targets
3 Dangerous Effects of Nuclear Bombs
Blast Effect
Thermal Radiation
Nuclear Radiation
Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)
Weapons with:
- massive collateral damage
- wider moral considerations
- powerful deterrent effect
Grouped together as atomic, biological, and chemical weapons (ABC)
Although can be argued that only nuclear weapons are the true WMDs
Nuclear Proliferation
This is the spread and build up of nuclear weapons
Examples during the Cold War:
- US and USSR (1945; 1949; etc.)
- Permanent members of UN Security Council (P-5: China, France, UK, USSR (Russia), US)
First Nuclear Age
This is what the Cold War is sometimes referred to as in terms of nuclear weapons
Nuclear Proliferation in the ‘First Nuclear Age’
- Primarily vertical rather than horizontal (effort was put into restricting nuclear proliferation to the ‘big five’)
Example:
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) 1968
Balance of Terror
This was when both superpowers had built up to the extent that their first strike but also second strike nuclear power capability was to the point that engaging in nuclear war would lead to Mutually assured Destruction (MAD).
Therefore, there was a nuclear deterrence as no one wanted to destroy themselves (and the world). This deterrence led to somewhat of a stalemate or ‘balance of terror’.
Some use this as a powerful example of the capacity of a balance of power to maintain peace and stability.
Post-Cold War Proliferation (p267)
Nuclear powers continue to use nuclear strategies
- nuclear treaties were often ineffective; unverified
- continued possession weakened position of nuclear states to discourage non-nuclear powers from gaining nuclear weapons
Incentives for states to get nuclear weapons have increased
- lack of ‘nuclear umbrella’ from US and USSR
Example: India and Pakistan - 1998
- discourages intervention from more powerful states
Example: Invasion of Iraq vs North Korea; Effect on Iran
Nuclear weapons/technology are more readily available/accessible
- scientific knowledge to create these weapons are no longer tightly controlled by military and can be bought
- collapse of USSR meant that their materials may have entered the open market
Nuclear weapons may get into wrong hands
- may get into hands of rogue states who do not calculate cost-benefit as thoroughly
Example: Bush’s ‘axis of evil’
- may get into hands of terrorist group who do not have the same constraints as states (lack of fear of retaliation)
Purposeful Non-Proliferation
Many states have also exercised restraint and chosen not to build up on nuclear weapons despite the capability. Deciding the costs outweigh the benefits
Examples:
- Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, & S. Korea
- Some have abandoned nuclear programmes: Brazil, Argentina, South Africa
- Libya gave up WMDs in 2003 for new trade agreements with US and UK
Challenge of Arms Control
Security Dilemma
States can view any build up as legitimate form of defence/deterrence
Seeks to control the most heavily armed and powerful in the world (US, Russia)
Bush Doctrine
Approach to rogue states that pre-emptive military action would be taken against states that threaten the USA through the development of WMDs or harboring terrorists
‘rogue states’
States that may not be as responsible with their nuclear weapons if they had them
Very eurocentric idea though considering Bush’s axis of evil: Libya, N. Korea, Iraq, Iran, Syria
Why is one countries reasoning for having them more valid than anothers?
