Is Worldwide Nuclear Disarmament Possible?

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Former president Jimmy Carter said recently that “[a nuclear disarmament deal with North Korea] could be worked out in half a day. In exchange Pyongyang would want “diplomatic relations with the US, an official end to the Korean war, nuclear energy reactors, and other energy assistance.”  Former President Jimmy Carter visited Kim Il Sung in North Korea in 1994 on behalf of the US and then current President Clinton to complete an agreement for eliminating all nuclear development programs and the impediments International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors faced. Clinton did enforce the agreement. Then former President Bush decided against upholding the agreement because he believed that North Korea was secretly engaged in uranium enrichment activities. Carter adds that by abandoning many of the nuclear arms agreements negotiated in the last 50 years, the United States has been sending mixed signals to North Korea, Iran, and other nations with the technical knowledge to create nuclear weapons. “The American government has not set a good example, having abandoned the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty, binding limitations on testing nuclear weapons and developing new ones, and a long-standing policy of foregoing threats of "first use" of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states. These recent decisions have encouraged China, Russia, and other NPT signatories to respond with similar actions,” says Carter.
     
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger noted that the US and Russia between them own 90% of all nuclear armament and as such are the two global, nuclear superpowers. He sees potential in the idea of the US and Russia having a joint missile defense directed towards the Middle East. He added that apart from obvious need for US negotiations with Russia, “there is need for nuclear agenda agreements with NATO, China, and even some general understanding with Iran to effectively minimize the threat of North Korea.”     
 

Summary

In 1953 Dwight D Eisenhower addressed the United Nations with his “Atoms for Peace,” talk. John K Kennedy did his part to work through obstacles for nuclear disarmament and said, “The world was not meant to be a prison where man awaits his execution.” Ronald Reagan wanted nuclear arms abolished.  Sam Nunn, William Perry, Henry Kissinger, and George Schultz together wrote that while nuclear weapons had been an essential means of deterrence during the Cold War, the end of the Cold War marked the doctrine of the Soviet-American deterrence no longer being necessary. In fact, from that point, nuclear weapons have only posed a serious threat to everyone globally and have weakened security internationally.  Assuredly, all agree that complete, global nuclear disarmament is more of a process than occurrence and will take time.
   
Most of the experts who have played major roles in foreign relations and security positions in America are advocating for total nuclear disarmament and all steps along the way to that end. The many peace offering gestures and speeches President Obama included on his trip abroad, as well as his purposeful and assertive intentions spoken in Prague, merely build upon statements and actions of his many political peers and predecessors, American and abroad. Most experts concur that eyes around the world are on America and how she deals with nuclear weaponry and that many countries will respond accordingly.  Experts and many world leaders recognize not only that nuclear disarmament is plausible, but also that bold first steps towards peace such as those taken recently and especially by President Obama are imperative.

 

 

 

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