Nuclear Weapons

Question 1

Learning objectives

Answer 1

• Understand concerns about nuclear threats
  
  • Consider reasons for acquiring nuclear weapons
  • Examine history of arms control efforts

Question 2

Nuclear threats

Answer 2

• A lot of major people are making nuclear threats
  
  • Putin said don’t ‘they’ realize that ‘we’ have weapons that could reach their territory, they are risking nuclear war

Question 3

What is a nuclear weapon

Answer 3

• Explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reaction
  
  • A modern thermonuclear weapon, weighing a little more than 1000 kg can produce an explosion comparable to the detonation of more than 1 billion kg of conventional high explosives
  • Efficient killing machine
  • Unlike any other conventional threat
  • Have to think carefully about

Question 4

Nuclear and Near-Nuclear Weapon States, 2023

Answer 4

• 9 known countries that have nuclear weapons, 2 countries have a lot of nuclear weapons 4400 nuclear weapons for Russia, 3300 nuclear weapons for the US
  
  • Broken nuclear barrier

Question 5

Motivations for building nuclear weapons

Answer 5

• Deterrence–trying to make them think twice, scare them so they don’t do what they are planning on doing, through fear
  
  • Intimidation–Putin said that he could make the war much more unpleasant by using nuclear weapons
  • Prestige–lots of countries think that possessing a nuclear weapon helps show that they are of higher status than everybody else

Question 6

Policy of Massive Retaliation

Answer 6

• 1954: US secretary of State John Foster Dulles announces that the United States will protect its allies through the “deterrent of massive retaliatory power.”
  
  • Supposed to keep soviets in check

Question 7

Emergence of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)

Answer 7

• By the. Mid- 1960s, unilateral deterrence gave way to “mutual deterrence,” a situation of strategic stalemate.
  
  • Focus on “second strike” capabilities. Enough in arsenal to survive whatever you hit is with, and regardless on if we die, we will put that second strike on you
  • In order to have a situation of MAD, your nuclear arsenal has to withstand the first nuclear strike from your opponent and deliver an equally destructive second strike
  • This is why one might be interested in building up nuclear weapons for themselves
  • Its bad to have only a first strike capability as : you don’t have the deterrence, and you also have a threat to other rivals–the other side knows that you only have one shot, and they know they just have to strike first–first strike will destroy their capacity to strike back

Question 8

Arms control treaties have lapsed

Answer 8

• New START treaty is last nuclear arms control agreement between US and Russia. It is set to expire in 2026.
  
  • Russia withdrew from the Comprehensive test ban treaty
  • US tested nuclear weapon in 2023 after Russia withdrawals from CTBT.
  • Suggested that we may be in for a new wave of nuclear weapons

Question 9

Horizontal proliferation continues

Answer 9

• North Korea, Pakistan, India increasing their arsenals
  
  • Iran pursuing nuclear weapon
  • Japan is the only non-nuclear weapon state in possession of a full nuclear fuel cycle and has advanced WMD-relevant industries