Towards a nuclear weapons free world
-: In absentia,
this paper presented in
National Seminar organized by
India Development Foundation
3rd June 2012 Gandhi Bhavan Bangalore
moderated by former CJI Justice MN Venkatachalaiah
Some Facts:
(1) No two functioning democracies have
gone to war against each other post advent of NW (Nuclear Weapons).
(2) Among the seven declared NW states,
no democracy has acquired weapons in the perceived threat
of another democracy. Either totalitarian states have acquired it or
democracies have been forced to acquire it because of a clear and
present threat from totalitarian states.
History of NW usage:
There have been only two (ghastly
enough) instances of NW usage till date. Hiroshima and
Nagasaki occurred as a riposte to sustained attack on a democratic
society by a totalitarian state and an absence of a forum where the victim
democracy could register its grievance. Worse, a non-existent mechanism to
punish the offender (for Pearl Harbor) forced it to act the way it did.
Genesis of NW:
The faith of any unit is shaken when it
sees that the perpetrators of violence are going unpunished. It then is forced
to retaliate with a value-neutral approach.
Substantiation:
Totalitarian states like USSR (1949),
China (1964), and Pakistan (1998) went nuclear as a matter of prestige, though
they were never attacked. Democracies like USA (July 1945), UK (1952), France
(1960), India (1974/98) went nuclear because of proven record of imminent
threat by totalitarian states.
States like Ukraine and former Russian
federation nations back-stepped from being nuclear to becoming non-nuclear
because they are democracies. Undeclared but NW capable states like Australia,
South Korea, Israel, South Africa, and Brazil have deliberately
chosen a NW free path because they are functioning democracies and are fairly
well protected by other democracies in the event of any NW threat. Conversely,
the totalitarianism of clandestine NW states like North Korea and Iran is
obvious. The proliferation record of totalitarian regimes juxtaposed to
democracies is as clear as chalk and cheese.
Conclusion:
NW acquisition and democracy
are inseparable factors in the equation to a NW free world. Call for
a NW free world and promoting democracy worldwide are two shears of a scissors.
Both shears have to pincer in tandem to be effective. On the
hypothetical day that the world is freed of all nuclear weapons, one would
invariably find that it is rid of totalitarian states
and democracies flourishing. A NW free world is but a natural
offshoot of thriving democracies.
The writer is of the firm view that all activists (individuals,
institutions, nations, UN, et al) advocating a NW free world should equally
support and promote democracies worldwide with the
same vigor and fervor as they raise the issue of a world
free of NW.
