OPINION: Nuclear weapons leave no
curve to flatten
By Lassina
Zerbo, KYODO NEWS -
Apr 12, 2020 - 12:04 | All, World
The coronavirus pandemic seemed to come from
nowhere, and the battle to beat it is currently crowding out thoughts of
another terrifying threat whose "surprise" would cause significantly
greater devastation.
The tragedy of COVID-19 must take immediate
priority, and it has thrown a stark light on the need for preparedness. The
threat of nuclear weapons cannot await a similar crisis.
To prepare for nuclear weapons to be used is
too late. The only option is prevention. Modelers have shown that even a
limited nuclear exchange would have the most devastating consequences for the
planet.
Yet much remains to be done to increase
public understanding of nuclear risks, and to bolster political will around the
world to address those risks with sufficient urgency.
There is some good news, however. Although
scientists are having to scramble to find a drug or vaccine against this new
virus, others have already been engaged for decades in developing and deploying
measures to address the man-made dangers of nuclear weapons.
Ever since the test of the first atomic bomb
75 years ago turned the night sky to day over New Mexico in the United States,
a parallel path has been forged to try to curb the dangers of nuclear weapons,
and science has been at the forefront of this effort.
March 2020 marked the 50th anniversary of the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which enjoys the support of 191 countries.
The NPT is regarded as having made the difference between unrestrained nuclear
proliferation and keeping the number of states possessing nuclear weapons to
the current single-digit total.
In the face of COVID-19, the NPT's scheduled
April 2020 review meeting in New York has been postponed. When it does go ahead
it will likely be held in a sober atmosphere of concern at the erosion of arms
control agreements, huge investment in the modernization of nuclear weapons,
and a dangerous crossroads where advanced technologies and nuclear risks meet.
Preventing the development of nuclear weapons
is the best defense against their existential threat. Without testing them, a
country is unable to determine if they work and move to deployment.
This is the purpose of the Comprehensive
Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, which bans all nuclear test explosions, everywhere.
With 184 member states, it is one of the most widely supported arms control
treaties in the world -- a major achievement on the path from the first
explosion in 1945 to the eventual goal of nuclear disarmament.
Crucially, the ban is backed by a strong
verification regime including a high-tech monitoring network that runs around
the globe and beneath the oceans, constantly taking the pulse of the planet for
any evidence of a nuclear explosion. In December last year this network, which
has already proved its worth by detecting all six of North Korea's nuclear
tests, reached the milestone of 300 operational monitoring facilities -- well
on the way to the ultimate total of 337.
Yet the CTBT remains in legal limbo. Without
being ratified by China, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, North Korea and
the United States it cannot enter into force as binding international law.
Just as COVID-19 knows no borders, the
effects of nuclear weapons would not respect national boundaries. Both the
nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear test ban treaties are major international
achievements that could not have been won without a collective global approach:
the multilateralism of diplomacy and scientific cooperation.
Current challenges cannot be met without
reinforcing this approach. There is an urgent need for states to broaden their
increasingly narrow perspective and acknowledge that the world is
multidimensional. New tools are needed for diplomatic relations, along with the
resources to support them.
We must urgently strengthen the ties between
diplomacy and science. While finding common political ground can be difficult,
the neutral language of science can support sound decision-making while also
helping to build trust and understanding -- just as it is doing with COVID-19.
Nature's capacity is limitless and the future
may bring other lethal pandemics. COVID-19 has brutally revealed the
consequences of inadequate preparation, but the battle to reduce its impact is
being fought.
Nuclear weapons offer no such possibilities:
they demand not mitigation but prevention. There will be no curve to flatten.
(Lassina Zerbo is Executive Secretary of the
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization.)
==Kyodo
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to Max Obuszewski, Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 431 Notre Dame Lane, Apt. 206,
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"The master class
has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.
The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject
class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their
lives." Eugene Victor Debs
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