Nuclear Weapons free world ??

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.