U.S. Security Policy and Nuclear Proliferation - Report Example

U.S. Security Policy and Nuclear Proliferation This paper explores the United s’ security policy and nuclear proliferation across the globe. Evidently, history is full the war against nuclear weapons. States come together collaboratively to shun nuclear issues, with a major focus on the effects it has on national security. Undeniably, nuclear proliferation is an international issue that affects different countries in varied measures. Thus, this research follows definite steps to explore the U.S. security policy and nuclear proliferation. The first section illustrates the U.S. security policy and ways in which the policy facilitates co-existence. Further, there is a description of the history of nuclear weapons, which reveals that the concept dates to the early 20th century. In addition, there was an outstanding fear among many experts that nuclear proliferation would continue to exist. Consequently, this research finalizes by discussing The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, which is a not-for-profit, non-partisan international organization that provides advocacy and education to the public on the harmful results of the use of nuclear weapons. Introduction The U.S. Security Policy has been developed and improved to increase the securityleveltoits citizens and other people globally. Strategies have been implemented to promote peace and security among nations across the globe. The security policy is in support of the elimination of the proliferation and use of nuclear weapons for violent purposes. The proliferation of the nuclear has been seen to be of great loss to many nations as it had previously led to the dramatic loss of lives to many innocent people (Joyner, 2011). The U.S. government should, however, consider several factors before undertaking the campaigns to abolish the use of these harmful weapons. Evidently, the new era consists of increased insecurity level and political instability thus nuclear weapons can serve as a way to fight back and provide security to the citizens. Despite the fact that the nuclearweapons can play very crucial role in defending against insecurity to the United States and other nations, the danger that can result outweighs the benefits that it provides. Thus, countries should come together and make an agreement to eliminate and prevent further proliferation of the nuclear weapons.Consequently, all the nations across the globe would promote peace and stop using the nuclear weapons. The U.S. government should only implement the strategy in its national security policy if the other nations agree to comply with the non-proliferation treaty agreement (Sarkesian & Vitas, 2014). It seeks to prevent any risk of betrayal and withdrawal of the other nations that support the initiative. In general, the U.S. government should support the elimination of the use of nuclear weapons and their proliferation due to its adverse effects. The U.S. national security policy The United States currently has the potential and is in a better position to acquire opportunities in the new century, to protect the Americans against risks that are prevailing in the insecure world. The new strategy, which the president has formulated together with other United States top officials from the White House, outlines how the government is envisioned to enhance universal values, international order and national interests through good American leadership (Sarkesian & Vitas, 2014). The strategy in the security policy specifies the principles describing how America will be at the top to lead countries globally to enhance peace and development. In this strategy, the United States will advance its security to its citizens and its allies. This will be done through: training its defense force, equip them with new technology so as to maintain its national defense; campaigning for a nuclear weapons free world and ensuing that irresponsible and violent states do not get access to the nuclear weapons; coming up with global ways of preventing and quickly responding to the natural diseases such as Ebola through mechanisms, such as the Global Health Security Agenda (Sarkesian & Vitas, 2014); dealing with the climate change crisis such as global warming by regulating and reducing the amount of industrial emissions, promoting and thinking green and carrying out international diplomacy. The strategy also specifies that the United States will develop an innovating and strong economy that allows an open trade and economic systems hence promoting prosperity and business opportunities to people. This will be enhanced by practices, such as: making the national energy security strong and increasing more accessibility to the global sources of energy that are cheaper and reliable, to support economic growth internally and globally; increasing the economic competitiveness by opening up more and wide markets for the U.S. products and services, providing investment opportunities and making better business environment and better promoting the American workers; expansion of the trades by promoting trade between the America and other trans-pacific traders so as increase more job opportunities for the Americans and taking the initiatives and deploying efforts that reduce food insecurity and large extents of poverty such as President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief(Sarkesian & Vitas, 2014). The U.S. government will also develop an international order that will enhance security, peace and opportunity by forming alliances to deal with challenges that are faced (Watson, 2008). This will be enhanced through: ensuring that in the 21st century, the road rules, norms are updated and reinforced through working cooperatively with partners so as to bring peace and development in this era; promoting security and prosperity with the western regions, such as giving support to Cuba to facilitate its involvement; preventing nations like Iran from accessing and using the nuclear weapons and minimizing the root course of conflicts among countries so as to ensure a stability in the Middle East and North Africa and to prevent any act of terror war. There will also be maintenance of a strong commitment to ensuring peace in Europe by enhancing aggressiveness of the NATO alliance so as to curb the emergence of any threat, and creating a balance to Asia and Pacific region by promoting diplomacy, investments, strengthening alliance and looking for different ways to promote security in the region (Sarkesian & Vitas, 2014). The U.S. will see that this national security strategy is implemented and achieve its goals by ensuring that they deploy all the U.S. power instruments by promoting defense, development, science and technology and intelligence. Evolution and development of nuclear weapons The evolution and development of the nuclear weapons can be attributed to the developments in the field of science and technology that have been taking place since the 20th century. Many people have discovered and invented many technologies in the field of telecommunication and electronics. Some of these inventions and discoveries have direct and indirect impact on the people’s lives. The societies at large have also been threatened by these discoveries. The following paragraphs give a discussion on the evolution of a particular aspect of the nuclear revolution. Specifically, the discussion will be on the development and proliferation of nuclear weapons. The Atomic Age The atomic age can be traced from the periods just after the spread of World War II in the European Nations in October 1939. The president of U.S. during these periods, Franklin D. Roosevelt was notified by one of the physicians, Einstein and his colleagues, Szilard calling for his attention on the release of a bomb that had exceptional power that could be created by collecting the nuclear fission energy (Barnaby, 1993). The two scientists escaped from Europe after discovering that Hitler of Germany was already having an idea about this bomb. If it happened that the Germans were the first to come up with this atomic bomb, they could have destroyed their enemies and take rule over the world. With the aim of escaping from this tragedy, the two encouraged the U.S. government to support the development of an atomic bomb. The president during these periods agreed to support the movement and organized a cooperation that was secret with the UK for the next four and half years. The movement began, and the project named the Manhattan was formed, consisting of 200,000workers and thousands of engineers and scientists who had a European background. On July 16, 1945, the atomic bomb was first tested in the New Mexican desert, Alamogordo having power that even surprised those who were working on it (Barnaby, 1993). During this test, Germans had already surrendered. However, the new president of the United States, Harry S. Truman made a decision to launch the bomb in the Pacific war so as to force the Japanese power to surrender (Barnaby, 1993). The atomic bomb was used afterward and caused many deaths in the same year. The second atomic bomb was released in Nagasaki. Many had died out of this explosion and many kilotons of TNT (trinitrotoluene) were yield. The spread of nuclear weapons Nuclear proliferation refers to the spread fissionable material, nuclear weapons, and other technological weapons and information to nations not recognized by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as nuclear weapons states. According to Barnaby (1993), the spread can originate from one country to another or the non-state actors. The spread is also believed to be harmful as it can lead to misuse by some nations or these non-state actors. Thus, the proliferation is what the U.S security policy aims to abolish. The surrender of the Japanese leadership led to the call for many people to abolish the use of nuclear weapons. This was due to the dramatic loss of many lives that was evident in the regions such as Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Barnaby, 1993). Many people thus embraced the need to ban the nuclear weapon in order to prevent any chances of future catastrophes and a race of nuclear arm. The Soviet Union and the United States declared that they will agree to put aside the atomic bomb under international control (Barnaby, 1993). However, this declaration was not that fruitful. The move to stop the use of nuclear weapons was observed to have failed. This is because the Soviet Union launched a secret full-speed nuclear weapons movement that was aimed at catching up with the U.S. The program was supported and facilitated by the Soviet scientists who were able to build a similar fission bomb to that of the American that was released in Nagasaki, and were also successful in testing the bomb on August 29, 1949(Barnaby, 1993). Another development was made on H-bombs that was linked to the new fusion bombs. This was started in 1954 by the United States and Soviet Union (Barnaby, 1993). It was found to be over 1,000 times more powerful than the fission bomb that was applied in the World War II. By 1961, the United Kingdom and France also tested their nuclear weapons (Barnaby, 1993). The UK began their program working closely with the U.S. during the Second World War. France also obtained some technological support from other countries to develop their nuclear weapons by 1960. By October 16, 1964, China also achieved the nuclear power. They obtained the support from the Soviet Union. Prevention of the nuclear weapons spread Many experts in the field of military and other political leaders had the fear that the nuclear weapons proliferation was most likely to continue existing. They projected that in the next two decades, some more countries would even expand beyond the power of nuclear weapons (Joyner, 2011). The United States and Soviet Union made an attempt to stop this development. They took the leadership and negotiation to form an international agreement with an aim to prevent more expansion of nuclear weapons. They conducted this negotiation peacefully as they did not prevent to use the nuclear energy for other purposes, such as peace and electricity. This movement resulted into the creation of the Treaty called the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which was signed on July 1, 1968(Joyner, 2011). During this period, 21 countries in the Latin America and Caribbean regions had joined the Treaty in support of the nuclear weapons free zone, and the regions became the first to be the world’s free areas of nuclear weapons(Bellany, Blacker & Gallacher, 1985). The Non-Proliferation Treaty The NPT began in the early 1970s and categorized countries into two. The first category consisted of the nuclear weapons nations that included the United States, Soviet Union, United Kingdom, France and China, that possessed the nuclear weapons at the time of its formation, and the second category consisted of nations that signed the Treaty and referred to as non-nuclear weapons states (Joyner, 2011). It has several provisions that help in prevention of the use of nuclear weapons. For example, when a nuclear weapons state signs the Treaty, it agrees not use the nuclear weapons against other states or help other states to use build nuclear weapons. Additionally, the non-nuclear weapons nations also agree to comply with the provisions. Under these agreements or treaty, the nuclear weapons states vow to reduce the levels of their nuclear weapons arsenals with the final objective of completely removing the nuclear arms (Bellany, Blacker & Gallacher, 1985). Several countries signed the NPT with the United States, United Kingdom and Soviet Union being the first to sign. Other 59 more states also signed the treaty, these included France and China that assented to the treaty in 1992, Ukraine and Kazakhstan in 1996 (Joyner, 2011). The Treaty has gained honor and value in war control and promotion of peace among countries. Today, it is the most widely used and accepted agreement of controlling arms. This had increased the number of member states joining the treaty. For example, all the United Nations members, as of June 2003 signed the NPT, except for Pakistan, India and Israel that had not. The harmful effects of nuclear weapons The nuclear weapons have both long term and short term effects when they are used. The short term effects are immediate destructive effects while the long term effects are the delayed harmful impacts. Generally, the effects include: blast; this is the physical damage that the explosion brings. It may lead to damage to property like building and constructions, and other structures(Tabak, 2009). Secondly, it can also lead to thermal effects that result to high levels of heat from the nuclear energy. These thermal radiations are harmful to human life. The explosion can result to rise in temperatures to million degrees Celsius (Tabak, 2009). This can cause burning of human tissues and overall body to ashes. The other effect is radiation; this includes radiation rays, such as gamma and neutron. Exposure to high levels of uncontrolled radiations is also harmful to human body organs. For example it can lead to damaging of the brain and bones. They also lead to other effects, such as bleeding from the gums, diarrhea, different types of ulcers, vomiting and terminal coma (Snedden, 2002). Many of these effects have no effective treatment or cure thus the victims can die after short periods of time like after a few days. The nuclear energy contains radiations that are harmful to the atmosphere and the external environment. The radioactive particles can interfere with the visibility of the atmosphere thus may further cause accidents to airplanes; furthermore, they can also lead to radioactive rains that are harmful to building and agricultural crops. The particles can interfere with the ozone layer and the climatic changes such as global warming. The resultant fires from these radioactive particles can also lead to destruction of property and changes in the global temperatures (Snedden, 2002). Additionally there can be a reduction in the food production due to climate changes. This is the long run lead to starvation and loss of life due to malnutrition. The positive effects can also be obtained by the use of nuclear weapons for peaceful purpose. The nuclear energy is a good alternative source of energy in industries and households. However, due to its harmful effects, violent countries can also use the weapons to attack enemies. Other nations can also use the nuclear weapons to protect themselves against terrorists. Despite of this protection, this is a harmful act as it can lead to several harmful effects when used as stated above. For this reason the use of nuclear weapons should be abolished, and its proliferation abolished. Nuclear Age Peace Foundation According to Bellany, Blacker & Gallacher (1985), this foundation was formed in 1982 consisting of members and organizations globally supporting the movements to deter the nuclear weapons. The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation is not for profit, non-partisan international organization that provides advocacy and education to the public on the harmful results of the use of nuclear weapons. It provides the consultancy services to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (Joyner, 2011). It has the main objective of achieving a world that is nuclear weapons free. The mission of this foundation is to provide education and advocacy for peace and nuclear weapons free world, and providing empowerment to leaders. It aims to achieve its objective and mission by participating in education and advocacy programs. Some of the projects related to education include preparing newsletters that contain regular updates of information and analysis of the security issues and nuclear happening internationally (Joyner, 2011). It also provides nuclear files containing history, arranged chronically, of the nuclear weapons. It works together with officials and policy makers who are elected by the members around the world to support the abolition of nuclear weapons. It has conducted several programs that provide tributes to the victims of the war and crimes on nuclear weapons, to provide training programs that are concerned with peace and run events that show honor to leaders who promote and support peace among countries globally. The foundation has inspired and provided hope to many nations in combating war and violence. It has promoted active involvement of states with the aim to create a world with justice and peaceful coexistence. Its role is guided by a number of principles that include: settling conflicts in an equitable manner without violence. It relies on assumptions that conflicts can only be settled with diplomacy and violence only catalyzes them. It also works on the principles that security involves satisfying what the people need, protecting the environment and the future generations rights be protected. Moreover, it believes in respecting human dignity and the human rights should be advanced and endorsed universally (Watson, 2008). This organization is headed by a vital group of people with their headquarters in Santa Barbara in California. The founder of this organization is David Krieger who has served for the presidency since 1982 (Watson, 2008). He has written many books on the issue of nuclear weapons and peace initiatives. Rick Wayman is the director of programs and operations at this organization. He has also worked on issues related to nuclear weapons, campaign against their use in the UK before he transferred to this organization. Another vital member of the core group is Paul K. Chappell. He is the director of peace leadership at this organization. He spends much of his time compiling files and writing books on embracing peace worldwide and ending war of any kind including the use of nuclear weapons. In general, the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation has been sensitized, educated and mobilized people in the United States and globally through advocacy methods in order to protect and people and new generations. It has also launched campaigns to make people realize the danger of the use of nuclear weapons. The organization has shown the priority to make the world leaders converge and agree to the plans to eradicate the manufacture, threat, advancing, possessing and use of nuclear weapons and abolish all the nuclear weapons available. Conclusion The U.S. government should adopt and support the national security policy that agrees with the initiative to ban the proliferation of the nuclear weapons. From the evidence achieved above, the nuclear weapons can result into many harmful effects that are very destructive. Throughout history, starting from the Second World War when the first atomic bomb was tested up to date, the use of nuclear weapons is very destructive, imposes threats to the security of many nations including the United States. Some of the potential effects of these weapons include the sudden loss of lives, destructive of property that worth millions of dollars, and negatively changing the global climate. A number of treaties, programs and agreements have been formed in order to promote peace and security all round the world. An example is Nuclear Age Peace Foundation that aims at uniting the world most powerful political leaders to sit down and come up with ways that can bring peace and prosperity among nations. The U.S. government has taken the lead in several movements that have the ultimate goals of ensuring that the use of nuclear weapons is abolished. This is supported by the strategies developed by the president in support of the white house top officials in order to enhance security and peace among countries. The proliferation of the nuclear weapon has been projected to grow in the future if not controlled. This would increase the risks of many peoples lives in different countries across the globe. Consequently, political leaders should assent the initiatives to ban this proliferation. Nations that already have the nuclear weapons should reduce them until they remain nuclear free while the countries that still lack them should shun from acquiring them. To sum up, the U.S. government should adopt the security policy that renounces the use of nuclear weapons across the globe. Reference Barnaby, F. (1993). How nuclear weapons spread. London: Routledge. Bellany, I., Blacker, C., & Gallacher, J. (1985). The Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty. London, England: F. Cass. Joyner, D. (2011). Interpreting the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Sarkesian, S., & Vitas, R. (2014). U.S. national security policy and strategy. New York: Greenwood Press. Snedden, R. (2002). Nuclear energy. Chicago, Ill.: Heinemann Library. Tabak, J. (2009). Nuclear energy. New York, NY: Facts On File. Watson, C. (2008). U.S. national security. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO. Read More