nuclear war? :: essays research papers

A Nuclear Solution? During the nuclear age, some nations have attempted to reduce the number of their nuclear weapons as much as some nations have tried to obtain the weapons. Numerous programs have been started to decrease the number of nuclear missiles. The problem with those plans is â€Å"decrease† and not disarm. Many countries don’t want to give up their biggest weapon and who could blame them. Some countries need that weapon as a way of defense against an aggressive nation. Since the only true solution to nuclear weapons will not realistically happen in today’s world, I think that we should attempt to make the best of the situation and if we are going to use them we should use them fairly. Therefore, I offer a counter solution. Instead of ridding ourselves of nuclear weapons we should use them to our advantage. We must realize that nuclear weapons, whether we like it or not, have become an integral part of our world environment. Nuclear weapons are a part of our global security setting. Knowledge will continue to exist; it cannot be disinvested. Nuclear weapons can be used as a deterrent to war. Nuclear devices have come a long way since the first two were dropped on Japan by the United States during the Second World War. Today’s nuclear weapons are respected as more than simple weapons and the mere mention of them demands attention. Therefore, countries around the world have found that nuclear weapons are more useful as a political deterrent to deter common war and non-nuclear or non-biological warfare. Professor Richard Haas furthers my point by stating, â€Å"Nuclear weapons have made a major contribution to world peace. The Cold War only remained cold because both the United States and the Soviet Union understood that any direct confrontation between them would likely escalate i nto a nuclear holocaust. The American nuclear arsenal aids deterrence in hot spots like the Korean Peninsula, where there has been no real war for forty decades. Indeed fear of American nuclear retaliation deterred Sadaam Hussein from using biological agents against allied forces during the Gulf War.† Nuclear weapons steer people away from the usage of these terrible forms of war, which saves the lives of innocents. Many leading nations use the threat of nuclear weapons for deterrence and they use them with in the bounds of treaties and rules set up by the United Nations.