Nuclear Weapon Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Nuclear Weapon - Essay Example That was the first and last strategic use of the "dirty bomb" which left its permanent mark in the form of acute radiation sickness and many lost generations in Japan. Such a mass level of death was only achieved by the Nazi's or blood thirsty conquerors like Genghis Khan who killed indiscriminately and mercilessly. Wiping out the entire population of an enemy country has never been easier. Yet in the aftermath of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki saga the nations of the world woke up to the horrific nightmares of such a drastic strategic weapon use. The use of nuclear weapons was strongly opposed at an international level and nuclear weapons were reduced to their role as political weapons.2Today these weapons have become political instruments with their role in pressuring and dominating other states. Any state without nuclear weapons perceives itself to be "weak" in political negotiations. 3 However super powers like the US have not exactly forgiven their weaker counterparts i.e. those countries who have dared to show defiance by "possessing" nuclear weapons. An example is the recent destruction of Iraq due to its weapons of mass destruction and the threats of a US attack faced by Iran for its hidden weapons of mass destruction.4 Pakistan has never revived from its political instability , since the political turmoil which arose just after the former premier Nawaz Sharif's refusal to sign the CTBT. 5. Arguably the nuclear weapon has become a cultural instrument .The 20th century saw two world wars and many civil wars which reshaped and readjusted the entire world's geography ,history and politics. There was a culture of violence which involved the cowboy style elimination of any state which dared defy a super power. Thus it was a culture of achieving ends by means of mass destruction and bloodshed. The ease with which the "dirty bomb" eliminated the enemy population frightened the warring nations beyond their wits. This is evident from the fact that apart from a few civil wars and regional unrest, there has been no large scale warfare around the world. Now there is a culture of promoting peace and having peace talks as all nations secretly wonder what the other state might be hiding in its weapons arsenal. However another alarming development is the increase in the ambiguous nuclear arsenals and secret war exercises in deserts by many countries like Pakistan and Israel6.The events of the past decade have seen an increase in the strategic, political and cultural importance of nuclear weapons .With in all three of these contexts Nuclear Weapons have become a part and parcel of the defence culture and an important tenet of government and policy. It should be noted in the background that the increase in the availability of the weapons has not been left uncontrolled and unmonitored. In 1957 the IAEA (The International Atomic Energy Agency) was set up to promote peaceful development of nuclear power and also provide for its control and to counter the proliferation of such weapons with in the principles of public international law. The IAEA did indeed encourage peaceful use of nuclear applications and the CTBT (Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty) was a controversial issue of the mid-nineties which prohibited the testing of nuclear technology. Notoriously enough India and Pakistan refused to sign it, making South Asia a politically sensitive nation.7Since