The Role Of Nuclear Weapons In International Security

Discuss the use of nuclear weapons in the 21^st century.

History of Nuclear Weapons

“The use of nuclear weapons in the 21^st century”. The use of nuclear weapons causes vast destruction. The initiation of nuclear has practically erased the moral boundaries. The U.S. is the first country to array nuclear weapons in the wartime. This paper examines the problems which are the existence of nuclear weapons for all the probable ethical point views. The nuclear weapons have an important role in the international security. These are constituent of an integrated defense strategy which includes diplomacy and conventional forces. The main role of nuclear weapons continues to adversaries in the attack on America (Winkler & Jonathan 489-492).  It is expected to continue as long as nuclear weapons hold the appellation of instruments of military force. The role of military planning has changed a lot in the geopolitical environment. It develops over time. The evolution is needed to be planned with the consideration of integration of strategic nuclear forces. The changes have occurred in the world but nuclear war planning is still similar in many aspects as it was during the cold war. The nuclear weapons aim to eliminate any adversary to impose further damage to American interests (Paul 20-40).

The nuclear weapons play an important role in international security during the half of the 20th century. Despite the rapid increase in the communication, transportation and weapon technology, there is no strategic conflict. The weapons are not necessarily to be neutral and especially those that kill and cause unnecessary harm. There is a stabilized effect on the superpower relations by showcasing any conflict excessively costly (Morgenthau & Hans 79-89). The nuclear weapons are proficient of infanticide, massacre, and ultimate contravention and beyond the extension of gunpowder. They are a threat to civilization and life on the planet comprising human life.

In the nuclear ethics, the problems are studied associated with the nuclear warfare, deterrence, and demobilization. These problems are understood in political, strategic and military terms. In the international organizations, these problems are better understood in the legal terms. Nuclear ethics considers that every possibility of destruction and damage could result in deep ethical problems. The nuclear ethics is linked to the cause and prevention of nuclear warfare. The emphasis is made on preventing nuclear war. Due to the destructive effects, the nuclear weapon is an issue. The nuclear weapons provide unique security benefits (Freedman & Lawrence170). These are held by the states. It is inconsistent for some states to violate universally accepted principles of reciprocity. The laws are the enunciation of values. The values are based on the foundations to have reliability. It is the ultimate characteristics of all human civilized values are to recognize the intrinsic sacredness of life in order to protect life (Power & Denkers 69-74).

The use of weapons raises the point whether these are moral or immoral. It is the use of weapons which raises the concern of moral or ethical issue. The man uses best weapons in all the wars. Gunpowders made wars more lethal. The nuclear weapons are simply an addition of gunpowder. The issue found here is that whether a man is willing to wage war by carrying out moral, ethics and other values. It can be considered that men will continue to use weapons to win. The leagues are established to prevent war though they have resorted to it. The weapons are not properly neutral mainly those that kill comprehensively and cause unnecessary harm. The nuclear weapons go beyond the extension of gunpowder when these are capable of massive infanticide, massacre and ultimate contravention (Borrie & John 625-646). These are a threat to the planet and the human life. It is not a satisfying situation to project past into the future. The approach should be converted into one to security and such future can be created in which there is assurance of human survival.

The Role of Nuclear Weapons in Military Planning

The advance conservative weapons technology has resulted in the ability of conventional weapons to perform some missions which are currently assigned to nuclear weapons.  The case of the road-mobile ballistic missile can be taken to identify the location of the target and place a conventional weapon on that target with accuracy. It can be demolished even without a nuclear weapon. If a person does not know the location of the target within many kilometers then nuclear weapon cannot destroy it. The factors required for the target demolition are intelligence and accuracy delivery. The explosive force of the weapon is not required (Keillor 533-547).

The part of the nuclear weapon is ultimately restrictive to aggression and destructive force which leads the nuclear forces for the decades to come. The configuration of nuclear resource can undergo significant modification to respond to changing conditions, military needs and confidence to maintain nuclear forces (Gartzke, Erik & Matthew Kroenig 395-401). The option of a nuclear weapon for the precision delivery may reduce the requirement of high yield. The lower yield weapon can be produced to modify the prevalent weapon designs. The lower yield weapons can employ more rough and basic designs which can be developed and maintains high confidence without testing. The small nuclear weapons can be maintained as a part of current nuclear forces.

This paper focuses on the role of nuclear weapons which might play in the 20^th century. There is the possibility of making reasonable projections of technology. Some assumptions can also be made as well about the possibility of threat situation. It takes years for the new weapon technologies to be developed and fetched into the military systems. A country can project the development of probable combative capabilities to some extent. The changes in the governments can be quickly compared to the timescale. Some technologies can be employed which proceed more slowly. The focus in this paper is made on the state to state defense and terrorism is not considered as a new state threats. It is unlikely to emerge power which can develop technology on a time scale faster without consideration of general indicators. It can enable technological or diplomatic response (Kroenig & Matthew 166-179)

The foreign weapons in 21^st century have access to several important technologies such as weapons of mass destruction. It exhibits the ability of midlevel technology to acquire nuclear weapons. The chemical and biological weapons are considered to be in the range of many countries. The long series ballistic missile technology is ostensible in countries like Iran, Pakistan, India and many others have ability to develop strength at worldwide distances. The countries can have accessibility to this technology which has enough sources to acquire. It makes long-range missiles for the countries. However these weapons lack precision of U.S. weapons. The space changing technology offers high resolution images from space. The capabilities in providing images in real time are expected to develop. The international agreements can be used to prevent collection against the sensitive sites. The Russian weapons technology is committed to provide significant resources for the advanced conventional weapons (Kristensen 96-108). This technology appreciates low cost and operational simplicity for weapons. The advanced communication and computer technology spreads computer technology to serve multiplier for the growing number of various countries. This technology employs small number of weapons against technologically superior enemy.

This paper has examined the problems associated with the existence of nuclear weapons. The way nuclear weapons used tells the effect whether they are useful or harmful. It decides the point whether the use of nuclear weapons is moral or immoral. The advancement of conventional technology has made possible to perform tasks which are assigned to the nuclear weapons. The nuclear weapons have a significant role in the international security. The nuclear ethics explains the problems associated with the nuclear warfare, deterrence, and demobilization. The small nuclear weapons can be sustained as a part of current nuclear forces. The technology used in nuclear weapons engages a small number of weapons against the technologically superior enemy.

References

Borrie, John. "Humanitarian reframing of nuclear weapons and the logic of a ban." International Affairs 90.3 (2014): 625-646.

Freedman, Lawrence D. "Recent Books: Military, Scientific, and Technological: My Journey at the Nuclear Brink/The Case for US Nuclear Weapons in the 21st Century." Foreign Affairs95.3 (2016): 170.

Gartzke, Erik, and Matthew Kroenig. "Nuclear posture, nonproliferation policy, and the spread of nuclear weapons." Journal of Conflict Resolution 58.3 (2014): 395-401.

Keillor, Martin E., et al. "PRex: an experiment to investigate detection of near-field particulate deposition from a simulated underground nuclear weapons test vent." Health physics 110.5 (2016): 533-547.

Kristensen, Hans M., and Robert S. Norris. "Worldwide deployments of nuclear weapons, 2014." Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 70.5 (2014): 96-108.

Kroenig, Matthew. "US nuclear weapons and non-proliferation: Is there a link?." Journal of Peace Research 53.2 (2016): 166-179.

Morgenthau, Hans J. "The fallacy of thinking conventionally about nuclear weapons." Arms Control and Disarmament. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2018. 79-89.

Paul, T. V. "Self-deterrence: Nuclear weapons and the enduring credibility challenge." International Journal 71.1 (2016): 20-40.

Power, M., and J. Denkers. "Land Use Conflicts at a Nuclear Weapons Site: Contamination, Industry and Habitat at Hanford, USA." Urban Environmental Planning. Routledge, 2017. 69-74.

Winkler, Jonathan. "The Hesitant Gardener: the United States, Proliferation, Nuclear Weapons Technology, and Cold War Europe." (2018): 489-492.