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Proliferation of nuclear weapons essay
Impact of World War II
Impact of World War II
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“In July 1945, the first atomic bomb was tested in New Mexico and the next month the second and third weapons off the production line were dropped on Japan. Since then no nuclear weapons have been used in anger, although tens of thousands have been accumulated by the major powers and their destructiveness and sophistication increased immensely.” The nature of warfare is constant and evolved from multiple factors and military revolutions over time. The purpose of this paper is to identify the most important military revolution in history and highlight its effects that permeate modern day society. The proliferation of nuclear weapons is the most significant military revolution that led to the greatest changes in warfare, which include the immergence of new threats such as non-state actors, the shift from total war to low intensity conflict, and the importance of technology and innovation. This military revolution completely shattered existing paradigms of warfare due to the real threat of nuclear weapons’ total destruction of humanity.
The arrival of nuclear weapons transformed the international playing field permanently and new threats such as non-state actors have immerged as a result. Initially, only superpowers with nuclear arsenals had a global role as was evident during the Cold War between the U.S. and Soviet Union, but nuclear proliferation triggered a race to possess this power in the last 60 years.
The possible employment of nuclear weapons between the two superpowers during the Cold War was unprecedented. The power of this stalemate shattered the paradigm of warfare and demonstrated how significant this military revolution’s effects were even at the mere threat of nuclear weapons use. Regarding this standoff between t...
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... examined the importance of the nuclear weapons military revolution and its lasting impacts on modern day society. Evidence presented supports why this military revolution had the most impact of all on warfare and was carefully illustrated through the immergence of new threats, the shift from total war and high intensity conflict to low intensity conflict and finally, the critical role that technology and innovation has played since the advent of nuclear weapons. This is important in today’s operational and strategic environment due to the fact that American military and political leadership will continue to have taken in account the use of nuclear weapons on the battlefield. As globalization continues to set the conditions for nuclear weapons proliferation worldwide, the restraints and operational risks will dramatically increase and affect all strategic planning.
Author Geoffrey Parker is a professor of history at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Parker specializes in military history concerning the early modern period in Europe, along with interest in the military revolution of that period. Some of the other publicated works of Parker are; Military Revolution, 1560-1660 - A Myth?, The Army of Flanders and the Spanish Road, 1567-1659 and Global Crisis: War, Climate Change and Catastrophe in the Seventeenth Century. However, Parker is widely recognized for his work on the military revolution during the early modern period. His work entitled The Military Revolution; Military innovation and the rise of the West. 1500-1800 is a historical narrative that sought to illuminate the principles
The Cold War was a period of dark and melancholic times when the entire world lived in fear that the boiling pot may spill. The protectionist measures taken by Eisenhower kept the communists in check to suspend the progression of USSR’s radical ambitions and programs. From the suspenseful delirium from the Cold War, the United States often engaged in a dangerous policy of brinksmanship through the mid-1950s. Fortunately, these actions did not lead to a global nuclear disaster as both the US and USSR fully understood what the weapons of mass destruction were capable of.
During the late 1940's and the 1950's, the Cold War became increasingly tense. Each side accused the other of wanting to rule the world (Walker 388). Each side believed its political and economic systems were better than the other's. Each strengthened its armed forces. Both sides viewed the Cold War as a dispute between right and wron...
Advancements in technology and science contributed to one of the most gory and bloodiest wars in the annals of human existence. These new technological advancements revolutionized how people regarded war. War was no longer where the opposite forces fought in a coordinated battle. War evolved into a game of cunning strategy where the side with the bigger, more powerful, and smarter toys played better. This led to a fierce competition where each side tried to create the smarter machines and better weapons, leading to deadly mass killing weapons in the process.
Nolan, Janne E. 1999. An Elusive Consensus: Nuclear Weapons and American Security After the Cold War. Washington, DC: Brookings Institute Press.
The dropping of the first atomic bomb marked a turning point in the way nations fight one another. The destructive nature of the atomic bomb changed the course of warfare forever. “The effectiveness of nuclear deterrence is best explained by the fact that it was based on fear unlike other peace-keeping strategies of the twentieth century.” This gradual shift to a “fear based” strategy was in response to the failures of previous peace keeping strategies earlier in the century during World War I and II, including the Wilsonian ideals, the treaty of Versailles at the end of World War I, and the concept of appeasement prior to the start of World War II.
The Cold War is famous not only for its long engagement between the two super powers, the U.S. and the Soviet Union, but also because of the heightened physical tension that nuclear power brought to the global stage. Winning the war at the cost of human annihilation was not abnormal political conversation, and from the 1940s onward, fear of global destruction became a daily concern (Granieri, 2011). The circumstances of the Cold War made it different than previous international conflicts because it was the first conflict that could potentially lead to massive, worldwide destruction. Without the dangers of nuclear power, the Cold War wouldn't have differed much from previous historical conflicts between powerful states.
As the cold war had brought upon a lot of conflict, it had also had the struggle of the economy from the remnants of the Second World War and the 70’s that had really brought the entire situation down. In the beginning of the nuclear arms race, it was commonly believed that nuclear weapons provided more benefits than the cost was so they justified their somewhat frivolous spending. While the greater explosive power of nuclear weapons may cause them to be cheaper per kiloton, as wholesale of a particular item does in today’s world, this statement proves to be untrue for the arms race and it even hides the actual economic costs of the nuclear weapons. Economic pressure had already been with the United States from the previous years that had left a negative impact before the beginning of the nuclear arms race, and all the millions, billions, and even trillions spent on acc...
The question “what is, or should be, the function of nuclear weapons?” for me is an easy question to answer, there should be no function for them. I find no need for nuclear weapons in the post-cold war era; they are massive genocide machines that have no use in today’s time. During the cold war I can easily find reasons for them to be used but the cold war is now over. But in reality it’s known that this is a huge dream and most likely will never be accomplished to rid the world of nuclear weapons, so in a realist point of view and for the purpose of this paper I’ll say that the only logical (yet not truly logical) means of using a nuclear weapon is through deterrence. In this paper I will talk about how I believe it should be done and what opponents to my view believe. I will also talk about how there are many complexities to nuclear strategy and it’s not as easy as just removing weapons. But the main focus on this paper is what should the function of a nuclear weapon be and that’s deterrence.
Now, with the new atomic power under their thumbs, the weaponry that would generally be used in wars changed. Guns, as well as handheld pistols, now suddenly seemed useless. New military strategies were being formed, incorporating the ideas of bomb usage in them. “Historians and defense analysts generally agree that the advent of the latter heralded a revolution in military affairs, or, as Soviet theorists put it, a military-technical revolution. In their view, the technology of nuclear weapons and associated delivery systems, combined with new operational concepts and organizations, changed significantly the character and conduct of warfare. The nuclear revolution created new ways of war and threatened to render existing ones obsolete” (Arms Race: 1960-1969). This quote shows that the creation of atomic bombs changed the general views on war. Not only did the Nuclear Arms race change the ways and views on war, but it showed both the USSR and the United States how powerful they could really
The world first witnessed the power of these modern weapons of mass destruction, and after two successful bombings, forced Japan to surrender. This forced the world into a nuclear arms race, which resulted in the Soviet Union to develop an atomic bomb four years after the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombings. The arms race continued through the Cold War, creating the term mutually assured destruction, “MAD” until both superpowers had enormous nuclear stockpiles. After the conclusion of the Cold War in the 1990’s, both sides still contained large nuclear stockpiles with five other countries possessing nuclear weapons. Looking at the present day, is there still a need for nuclear weapon deterrents in the Twenty-First Century? Both James E. Doyle and Seth Cropsey agree that nuclear weapons will not protect the United States from the threats that face it today. One major point is Nuclear Weapons show their limitations when deterring or preventing terrorist attacks from occurring. James Doyle explains (2014), “ US nuclear weapons do not deter terrorist attacks. Al-Qaeda has attacked the United States, Great Britain, Pakistan, several NATO members, and Israeli… All these states possess nuclear arms or are in alliance with nuclear powers”(16). In the Twenty-First Century technology and changing climate is also decreasing the need for world powers to use nuclear weapons as deterrents. Doyle raises an uncommon point on the effects of a nuclear explosion and its effects on the environment during a period of increase temperatures. In the future, “Threats to use nuclear weapons will lack credibility because carrying them out would greatly worsen global environmental damage and its consequences for all states, including those who used nuclear weapons”(Doyle, 2014, 25). In addition, Seth Cropsey proposes an idea to replace nuclear weapons with technologically advanced conventional
The 20th century marked a period of revolutionary breakthrough in both science and technology. Besides the major improvements in electronic gadgets and telecommunications, few of the advancements impacted societies at large. For example: the atomic bomb, a weapon so powerful that it could destroy a city in seconds and kill thousands on impact. This new type of weapon had a huge influence on country relationships, as well as national security. The spread/distribution of nuclear weapons, or nuclear proliferation, troubles world leaders and at the same time, ensures them. If a country were to acquire nuclear weapons, other nations would be concerned. However, if a country were to acquire nuclear weapons, they would feel safe from enemies. This idea can be compared to the basic laws of supply and demand. Countries acquire nuclear capability for the sole purpose of increasing their power relative to other countries. This occurs to ensure their survival in the system of international relations. Nuclear proliferation alters the behavior of a country in terms of their national security because protection must be established for the people to feel safe. A nation would feel the economic burden during the period that follows a nuclear attack.
Armed Warheads are a constant danger and threat for everyone everywhere. They are constantly causing mistrust between governments and causing fear to its civilians. These weapons of terror and mass destruction have no legitimate military or strategic utility. Since the end of the Cold War more than 40,000 warheads have been unarmed, but the reasoning for keeping them remains the same. Countries still plead the idea of “nuclear deterrence”, which basically lets you keep your warheads t...
Weapons of mass destruction cause many high stress problems between countries. One of example of an extremely high stress situation occurred shortly after World War II, the Cold War. After the use of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima, and Nagasaki, Russia began researching and mass manufacturing nuclear weapons which...