The Nuclear Landscape – A Rules-Based Disorder
The monster must feed itself. The inevitability consequence of producing destructive weapons is that it is virtually impossible to let go of them
By Anil Madan
We often hear about the so-called rules-based order that governs, or at least should govern, the way in which the world’s nations relate to each other. The principles that the US and its allies would like to see as the most enduring are that all nations will recognize the territorial integrity of other nations, not start wars, and conduct trade fairly and in a free market not manipulated by government subsidies, and perhaps even that countries should have free and fair elections.
Protests against nuclear proliferation. Pic – Council on Foreign Relations
We have seen, of course, that this ideal does not reflect reality, not by a long shot. As Russia has flouted the territorial integrity of Ukraine, as China threatens to violate Taiwan’s, as Tibetan Buddhists and Uyghurs are repressed, as Belarus and many other countries cannot conduct a free election, and as wars, intellectual property theft, manipulated markets, subsidies and the like are common rather than the exception, the rules-based order is a chimera.
To a certain extent, the world can live with that geopolitical mess. Less so, when it comes to nuclear weapons. Here, we have what I call a rules-based disorder. It is no surprise that the world finds itself in a nuclear mess as well as in the geopolitical mess.
If we are to understand why this was destined to happen, we must take a trip back in history to the original five nuclear capable and armed countries, which also happened to be the five Permanent Members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Of course, the People’s Republic of China would eventually supplant Taiwan as the holder of that status. Together with a seat as a Permanent Member, came the veto power over UNSC resolutions.
The theory was that the five nuclear powers, the US, Soviet Union, China, United Kingdom, and France, were “entitled” to be nuclear powers and could be counted on to be responsible. Read More… Become a Subscriber
Mauritius Times ePaper Friday 28 June 2024
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