Source: Reuters
On 6th August, 1945 for the first time, a nuclear bomb was detonated over the city of Hiroshima. A second bomb of the same kind was detonated over the city of Nagasaki on the 9th of the same month. A total of almost 2,00,000 people died [1]. Two bombs, just two bombs, killed almost two hundred thousand people. From the horror caused by these explosions, people have refrained from using such weapons to date. Although, almost 12,100 such warheads remain in this world [2]. Such a massive count of weapons can obliterate everything we know of in a matter of seconds. And yet almost every country wants to get a hold of at least one such weapon, why? Just to deter other countries from attacking!
Geopolitical Gambits and Global Security
Countries that vouch for global security say that even nuclear deterrents are very dangerous and the world must undergo complete nuclear disarmament. While complete disarmament may sound very hard to achieve and too ideal, there are very good reasons for complete disarmament. Firstly, the countries with nuclear power are intimidating in more than one way. They can bend almost any geopolitical argument in their favour. Secondly, nuclear-armed countries do not allow other countries to enter the nuclear race easily to minimise power saturation. Also, there have been numerous instances where either countries have misunderstood each other or nuclear weapons have gone missing and the world was on the brink of mass destruction. These events are referred to as “Broken Arrows” [3].
Illustrating the gravity of these risks, one such incident occurred on 17th January 1966, a B-52 bomber flying over the coast of Spain, carrying four hydrogen bombs, each one 75 times more powerful than the one dropped on Hiroshima crashed during refuelling. This was a common operation known as Chrome-Dome during the Cold War where the US aircrafts with nuclear bombs flew over to the Soviet Union’s coast and returned.
Source: Wikipedia // Route followed by B-52 Bombers
This was done because the US wanted to retaliate instantly if the Soviet Union were to attack. Seven out of eleven soldiers died. All the four bombs fell to Earth. Two of them ruptured and contaminated an area of 2.6 square kilometres, one was found intact near a river bed but the fourth one went missing. 29 US ships were involved in the search and even so, it took 81 days to recover the bomb. Thankfully none of the bombs detonated. However, if one were to detonate, almost the entire country of Spain would have suffered. Also, this is not the only time an aircraft has crashed during Chrome-Dome!
In the first year of operation of Chrome-Dome on 24th January 1961, one B-52 bomber carrying two Hydrogen bombs crashed in North Carolina after a fuel leak. Three out of eight crew members died. One of the bombs landed safely after its parachute was deployed. The second one crashed into the earth and did not explode. But it was buried deep inside and was armed i.e. it could still explode. But due to flash floods, the bomb could never be recovered and the bomb is still there, buried 50 metres inside the field. A concrete slab of a diameter of 120 metres is placed in the area such that no one can dig it up [4].
Source: Spectrum News // The concrete slab in the centre
Further exemplifying the dangers associated with nuclear mishaps is the near-nuclear war situation during the Cuban Missile Crisis [5]. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the US Navy started dropping signalling charges into the water to bring a Soviet Union submarine to the surface. Tensions between Moscow and Washington were very high. The submarine had not been in radio contact with Moscow for a couple of days. The captain of the submarine decided that war had broken out and he was about to launch a nuclear torpedo. The launch required the authorisation of three men, two out of the three authorised the launch but Vasily Arkhipov did not [6].
Source: Wikipedia //Vasily Arkhipov
This was the closest when two nations were about to go on a full-blown nuclear war. Later historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. noted that this was the most dangerous moment in history.
These, as stated before, are not isolated events and many such bombs are missing. At least six US nuclear weapons have never been recovered. In 1998, Alexander Lebed, Russia’s former Chief of National Security, stated that there were more than 100 kiloton nuclear weapons unaccounted for [7]. These are just the cases that have been de-classified by governments worldwide, there will be many more classified disasters that took place and have been sealed away from the public.
Nukes and Naysayers
Countries, most of them who already possess nuclear weapons, argue that even if they give up nuclear weapons, rival countries will not do so. Hence such countries view nuclear disarmament as a security threat. Only five countries have signed the treaty on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons namely China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Although most of these countries have in one or the other way helped their allies to build nuclear weapons which is very well known.
But these following countries have nuclear power: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, India, Israel, Pakistan, and North Korea. Many of the above-stated countries have a dark record in geopolitics and cannot be trusted.
Kenneth Waltz has explained the logic behind nuclear deterrence as "Although we are defenceless, if you attack, we will punish you to an extent that more than cancels your gains". This is the logic followed by most countries that possess nuclear weapons. Many of the above-stated countries developed nuclear weapons to deter their enemies.
Source: Wikipedia //Countries with nuclear power
Nuclear Epiphany: The Final Takeaway
An ideal world where no country possesses nuclear weapons is not possible, so nuclear deterrents are important. The only true thing that countries do is reduce the number of active warheads. The truth remains that most of the countries might disarm but this does not account for the ones who do not follow international law. In such a situation, to throw away nuclear weapons would be no less than suicide. Many of the above-stated countries get the honour that they already have primarily because they possess nuclear weapons.
Another hard fact is that inter-continental ballistic missiles deliver these nuclear missiles [8]. The way that these missiles work is that they go into space and re-enter the atmosphere at such speeds that they are very hard to intercept. Hence once launched, there is a very low possibility that a nuclear missile can be stopped even if the owner country wants to. One more tactic used by countries is the placing of false charges in a warhead to make interception almost impossible.
Source: ResearchGate // Ballistic missile trajectory
Hence the only defence at work is a mental barrier, as in, a country will not attack another country with nuclear weapons because it knows that the retaliation will destroy it to such an extent that the war will be more devastating than useful.
Even so, nuclear weapons still pose a threat because many of the nuclear powers are not very stable and some of them even have leaders with erratic tendencies. Hence, they might just decide to attack a country regardless of the retaliation. Hence in geopolitics, all that matters is the balance of power. No country can be said to be completely good or bad (except in some cases a country can be regarded as too dark!). Hence, peace can only be maintained through a balance of power and trust.
To tell the truth, the human race is fortunate enough to not have had a nuclear war to date. Or maybe it is more than just luck, maybe it is the fundamental nature of humans to desire peace!
Article by:
Manvith Rao K
PES MUN Society, RR Campus.