The ghost of Edward Teller must have been doing the rounds between members of the National Commission on Artificial Intelligence. The father of the hydrogen bomb was never one too bothered by the ethical niggles that came with inventing murderous technology. It was not, for instance, “the scientist’s job to […]
Tag: Nuclear Weapons
Trigger Finger For Armageddon: Trump And The Thermonuclear Monarchy
It is the sort of breezy, skimpy and careless reasoning that is laying the ground for the Biden Republic. A person, kicked off a social media babbling platform and having the means to incinerate the human race multiple times over, seen as corollaries of each other. There should be an […]
“I Told You So. You Damned Fools”: 75 Years Of The Bulletin Of The Atomic Scientists
Leafing – or in this case scrolling through – the commemorative issue of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists after 75 years of publication is a tingling exercise of existence. The subject matter pushes you to the edge. You threaten to fall off. Death is promised; extinction contemplated. Nuclear holocaust. […]
Cultivated Lunacy, Nuclear Deterrence And Banning The Nuke
Is international relations a field for cautious minds, marked by permanent setbacks, or terrain where the bold are encouraged to seize the day? In terms of dealing with the existential and even unimaginable horror that is nuclear war, the bold have certainly stolen a march. The signature of Honduras was […]
The US’ Nuclear START Ultimatum To Russia Risks Provoking The Unthinkable
The previously unthinkable scenario of the US and Russia returning to nuclear brinkmanship with one another is once again on the cards after America’s START ultimatum to the Eurasian Great Power. What Could Be Worse Than The Cuban Missile Crisis? The Cuban Missile Crisis is universally considered to have been […]
Snapback Sanctions On Iran Isn’t Open-And-Shut Case
The Iran nuclear issue moves to centerstage of international security with US President Donald Trump’s remarks Saturday that Washington “will be doing a snapback” against Iran — announcing Washington’s intention to push for restoration of all pre-2015 UN sanctions against Iran. Trump added, “You will be watching it next week.” […]
Trump Insists On A Putin Visit To US
The US President Donald Trump’s remark on Monday that a G7 summit is no longer on the cards for the month of September leaves many questions unanswered. We do not know the circumstances in which Trump felt that he is “much more inclined to do it (G7 summit) sometime after […]
Opponents Of The Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty
It would seem a logical step, at least from an existential perspective: to ban something so utterly horrendous to life; to forbid its use in any circumstances, whatever rationale employed to justify its use. But the nuclear weapon has its admirers. There are those who continue to worship its sovereign […]
Scuttling New START: Trump’s China Distraction
“If we want to preserve strategic stability using arms control as a counterpart of that, as a tool in that toolkit, then China should be in as well.” US Defence Secretary Mark Esper, Defense News, Feb 26, 2020 For a person keen on throwing babies out with their bath water, […]
The UK’s Trident Nuclear Programme
Of the “official” nuclear powers (Russia, the US, France, the UK, and China), the UK probably has the most idiosyncratic approach to nuclear deterrence. Keeping the UK out of Russian–US nuclear arms control agreements in conjunction with US SLBMs is an opportunity for “unofficial” Trident test launches.
Popes Against Nuclear Weapons
The Vatican comes with its ills, contradictions and blatant hypocrisies in the field of moral theology and human existence, but on the issue of atomic and nuclear weapons, the position has been fairly consistent, if marked by gradual evolution. On February 8, 1948, Pope Pius XII held an audience with […]
Hiroshima-Nagasaki 74 Years Later
Seventy-four years have passed since the atomic bombing of peaceful Japanese cities, and humanity’s horror at the nightmare of this weapon remains acute. That horror is now one of the reasons why no country in the world can employ nuclear weapons against anyone without being punished. In that sense, the victims of Hiroshima did not suffer in vain.
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