By Maria Isabel Niño- Rada
1945 is a year remembered by humanity due to the devastation generated by the two atomic bombs that exploded in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in Japan.
The two nuclear weapons, the only ones used to date, left more than 200,000 deaths due to radiation and, in later decades, added 400,000 more deaths from health problems related to the bombs, according to UN data. Even the birth of the United Nations is linked to death in Hiroshima and Nagasaki with such lethal weapons. Although the effects of these bombs persist to this day, the world has not only not eliminated these weapons, but has increased its arsenal. From that moment, the world hopes that such a disastrous catastrophe will not be unleashed again.
The atomic bomb owes its name to the matter-generating particle and the process of breaking the atomic nucleus to generate a phenomenon called nuclear fission, which generates a chain reaction on contact with other atoms. In Nazi Germany this process was discovered and the Uranium project began to be carried out, with the aim of developing nuclear weapons in Germany. Albert Einstein realized the devastating effects this could have and wrote to Franklin D. Roosevelt, the president of the United States at that moment, telling him about the Uranium project. The Allies began developing the Manhattan project in response, which was first tested with the Trinity bomb and triggered the explosions in Japan.
As a result of the magnitude of the effects that nuclear weapons had in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it was necessary for International Law to regulate the use of such weapons, especially considering that there are benefits in the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, by generating its transformation into other types of energy.
After the Second World War, President Eisenhower launched the “Atoms for Peace” initiative. He was determined to solve the atomic dilemma by finding some way by which this inventiveness would not be dedicated to death, but consecrated to life by suggesting means to transform the nuclear energy into a benefit for mankind. This program was also motivated by the escalating nuclear arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union, which included the development of thermonuclear bombs. Nuclear weapons technology, thus far a product of American expertise, would also eventually enter the arsenals of the Soviet Union through the normal processes of technological development.
In 1948 the United States had tested even larger atomic bombs in the Pacific, and by 1949 the Soviet Union had achieved its own nuclear capability with the detonation of a nuclear device.
This also led to the creation of the International Atomic Energy Agency- IAEA in 1957 in response to the deep fears and expectations generated by the discoveries and diverse uses of nuclear technology. The Agency’s genesis was U.S. President Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace” address to the General Assembly of the United Nations on 8 December 1953. Currently, IAEA is the international center for cooperation in the nuclear field. The Agency works with its Member States and multiple partners worldwide to promote the safe, secure and peaceful use of nuclear technologies, with preeminence in nations that have nuclear weapons.
The Agency promoted the configuration of denuclearized zones to prevent states that did not have the technology to develop nuclear weapons for non-peaceful purposes from doing so in the future. The Treaty of Tlatelolco denuclearizes all the states to the south of the United States, the Treaty of Rorotonga does the same with the South Pacific and the Treaty of Pelindaba with Africa, to name a few examples. Seeing that it was very difficult to tackle the problem by prohibiting these weapons, a non-proliferation policy was chosen, which in turn gave way to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
However, the world is far from preventing non-proliferation in current times. Countries such as Israel, India, Iran, Pakistan and North Korea have developed this technology, which creates significant challenges for the international system, since it is no secret that the possession of these weapons by the States that develop them implies hegemony with respect to the others, and in any case their use would be disproportionate, in accordance with an advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice.
Sadly, the arms control network and the instruments created to promote trust and transparency are being weakened by division, mistrust and lack of dialogue, as countries with nuclear weapons modernize their arsenals and develop weapons and develop new vehicles to use them. All this threatens a return to the uncontrolled arms race.
Every September 26, the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons is commemorated, an event promoted by the United Nations in the search for an effective solution to face the threat that this type of weapon represents to the world. The Secretary General of the UN, António Guterres, advocated for the total abolition of the nuclear arsenal as something fundamental for the survival of life on the planet. He warned of the stagnation suffered by the process of total elimination of nuclear weapons, with the risk of backtracking towards that goal due to mistrust and tension between the States that possess nuclear weapons and the programs to modernize the arsenals.
Guterres said that those responsible for leading the effort towards nuclear disarmament are the nations that possess this type of weapon, fulfilling their existing disarmament commitments and taking concrete measures to reduce nuclear risk. Although the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons is the cornerstone of the disarmament regime, the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is awaited.
The world is facing multiple challenges that test humankind’s ability to respond and find solutions to them. This potential devastating technology cannot control the world’s destiny by fear and uncertainty, but it can be used as a tool of development and not destruction for the own sake of humanity. The world cannot ignore this.
Author: María Isabel Niño Rada (Professional Specialized in Presidential Council for Human Rights and International Affairs; Lawyer and professional in International Relations from the Universidad del Rosario, Colombia; Diploma in International Protection of the Human Rights of Women from the Universidad Austral, Argentina. She is currently enrolled in a Postgraduate degree in Constitutional Law at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. Bogotá D.C. Area, Colombia)
Image Credit: Russian Defence Military Press Service/AP
(The views expressed in this article belong only to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of World Geostrategic Insights)