Nuclear weapons pose significant threat
Date
12/1/2024 6:21:21 AM
(MENAFN) While nuclear weapons pose a significant threat, conventional wars have also wreaked havoc on civilian populations. However, the mere existence of nuclear weapons and the threat they carry have often prevented the escalation of conflicts, contributing to the preservation of peace. It is to be hoped that these weapons will never be used.
In 1973, when Henry Kissinger received the Nobel Peace Prize, Tom Lehrer retired, feeling the absurdity of reality was too great to parody. In 2024, the Peace Prize could be rightly awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, a group formed by survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. This group advocates for disarmament and warns of the catastrophic consequences of nuclear war. They are unlikely to follow the path of previous laureates who, after winning the prize, justified military action for their political objectives. A prime example is Barack Obama, who, after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, defended U.S. interventions, including the bombing of Libya. Similarly, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, though awarded the prize, oversaw a country teetering on the brink of civil war.
The devastation caused by conventional wars since 1945 often overshadows concerns about nuclear war, despite the global focus on the threat of nuclear conflict. Albert Einstein’s infamous warning about the aftermath of nuclear war, although exaggerated, suggested that it would regress humanity to primitive conditions. Yet, recent border clashes, like the one between India and China in 2020, showed remarkable restraint. Soldiers used only batons and stones, avoiding nuclear escalation.
Although the Kashmir conflict remains unresolved, the nuclear deterrence between India and Pakistan, both nuclear powers since the late 1990s, has prevented their rivalry from erupting into nuclear war. North Korea, too, despite its nuclear arsenal, has refrained from using its weapons, facing sanctions instead. Meanwhile, the nuclear impasse between Iran and Israel has avoided full-scale conflict. Historically, non-nuclear nations like North Vietnam and Ukraine have faced nuclear-armed superpowers, with Ukraine regretting the loss of its nuclear deterrence after giving up Soviet-era warheads in the 1990s. Despite this, Russia has not resorted to nuclear strikes on Kyiv, showing the complicated role of nuclear deterrence in international conflicts.
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