Which countries have nuclear arms?

[Nereid]

'Unintended consequences'

At the level of statecraft, can anything be done? Assume national leader(s) are wise, altruistic, etc ... what policies can they implement to put the genie back in the bottle?

To see how hard this is, think about US policy (and practice) re Afghanistan in the latter part of the Cold War, and the extent to which those policies - inevitably? - gave rise to OBL and al Q.

The best answers I've seen are those which start by looking to the causes of violence, aggression, etc. In these sorts of approaches, the nuclear question is more like an epiphenomenon.

 

[selfAdjoint]

Nereid,

The best answers I've seen are those which start by looking to the causes of violence, aggression, etc. In these sorts of approaches, the nuclear question is more like an epiphenomenon.

This raises some questions. Are nations with low levels of aggression in their populations better interantional neighbors than the other kind? On the one hand Norway. On the other China. Political scientists tend to factor out (or rather "integrate over") the population characteristics. But in a representitive polity, the characteristics of the voters may get amplified (by a kind of moire effect) in the leaders.

I personally think tha the NRA won the 2000 election for Bush. They ran a late and vigorous campaign against Gore in Tennessee and could be said to be responsible for his losing that state. And if he had won it, he would have easily beaten Bush in the Electoral College, whateve happened in Florida. So is the Bush foreign policy representative of the people who think that "More guns = less crime"? Certianly if you go by the expressed beliefs of the warbloggers, you would draw that conclusion.

 

[theroyprocess]

IAEA Urge Israel to Scrape Nuke Arms

IAEA chief urges Israel to scrap nuclear weapons

Thursday, November 27, 2003
By Reuters

http://www.enn.com/news/2003-11-27/s_10834.asp

VIENNA, Austria — The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said Wednesday
he wanted Israel to dismantle its nuclear weapons arsenal and he
believed all Middle Eastern states would benefit from ridding the region
of nuclear weapons.

Israel has not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and has never
officially admitted to having the bomb. But nonproliferation analysts
estimate Israel has between 100 and 200 nuclear weapons.

Asked about a meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom last
week, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei hinted
Israel should sign the NPT, the global pact designed to stop the spread
of nuclear weapons.

"We obviously discussed ... efforts to try to move forward toward
application of safeguards (on) all nuclear activities in the Middle
East, including in Israel, and the possibility of moving forward toward
establishing a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East," he told
reporters.

The U.N. General Assembly and IAEA General Conference have adopted 13
resolutions since 1987 appealing to Israel to sign the NPT and all have
been ignored.

"In my view every country in the Middle East, including Israel, will
benefit from establishing a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East
as part and parcel of a comprehensive peace in the region," ElBaradei said.

Since the 1991 discovery and later dismantling of Iraq's secret nuclear
weapons program, Iran is the only Middle Eastern country suspected of
developing nuclear weapons — apart from Israel.

Pakistan and India have nuclear weapons and have not signed the NPT.
North Korea is suspected of having built at least one atom bomb and
withdrew from the NPT on New Year's Eve last year.

--


Posted for educational and research purposes only,
~ in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 ~

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[theroyprocess]

Nuclear Doomsday Near?

SelfAdjoint,

Current events, aging nuclear power reactors, terrorism, human error, mechanical
breakdown, the power of money, mankind's conceit...history repeats. A nuclear
doomsday comes closer. Dr, Roy said to me over twenty years ago...(the powers
that 'decide' will allow debate...but it will not matter or change the course they
dictate). School is out...I posted the most significant new science in human history
on this forum, the Roy Process. Nobody cares...except to steal it or sabotage it as
has been tried.

Discussing this with Dr. Roy, he said "the good will die with the bad". Before he died
of cancer he encouraged me to keep trying with the Roy Process. And so what do I get
here...the argument that death from radiation is equal to other lethalities...and it
does not matter.

I feel sorry for your children. Explain it to them!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three Minutes to Midnight: NPRI Symposium on the Impending Threat of
Nuclear War

Date/Time: Sunday, January 25, 2004 9:00AM
Venue: Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, District of Columbia

Details at
http://www.nuclearpolicy.org/EventArticle.cfm?EventID=32&Menu=Events

Three Minutes to Midnight:
NPRI Symposium on the Impending Threat of Nuclear War

January 25-27, 2004; Washington DC
at the Omni Shoreham Hotel

The Cold War is Over.

The Nuclear Threat is Not.

Twelve years after the end of the Cold War, the U.S. and Russia each
maintain 2500 nuclear bombs on tenuous hair trigger alert. This
chilling reality and other critical nuclear issues will be examined
in-depth at the Nuclear Policy Research Institute's groundbreaking
symposium.

Join scientists, policy-makers, military and medical experts from around
the world for three days of analysis, insight and strategy.

Topics:

*
The risk of accidental nuclear exchange by United States and Russia,
*
The risk of terrorist intrusion into U.S. or Russian early
warning systems
*
Proliferation to Pakistan, India, Israel, Iran, North Korea and
other nations,
*
The “Second Manhattan Project” -- “Stockpile Stewardship Program”
*
Science, business and the military roles in the proliferation of
nuclear weapons.

( Go to original for details -
http://www.nuclearpolicy.org/EventArticle.cfm?EventID=32&Menu=Events )

--


Posted for educational and research purposes only,
~ in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 ~

See also http://nucnews.net - NucNews Links and Archives

 

[Nereid]

Why is the 'nuclear threat' more worrisome than (say) habitat loss, or misuse of antibiotics (leading to bacterial infections that cannot be treated other than by isolation)? Quantative reasons please!

"I posted the most significant new science in human history on this forum, the Roy Process." In what sense is the Roy Process 'the most significant new science in human history'? What are your criteria for determining 'significance'?