Weapons Proliferation Term Paper

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Weapons Proliferation, simply defined, is the rapid increase or spread of weapons in the context of global security. If we are to measure the weapons capabilities of the world, the United States retains the lion's share: in 2002 the Economist estimated that American military spending would exceed 379 billion in 2003 (Economist, 6/18/2002.) For comparison's sake, Russia, the world's second largest nuclear power, had a total GDP of merely 346.6 billion in 2002 (Economist, 7/22/2003.) However, the "balance of terror" that underscored the cold war era was in many ways much safer than the current situation. Whereas 'weapons proliferation' once referred to the number of weapons in existence, it has taken on a new meaning; it now is usually meant to reflect the number of political entities capable of using weapons of mass destruction. The number of such countries has increased beyond UN Security Council permanent members to include India, Pakistan, Israel and perhaps most notably North Korea.

Countries such as North Korea are regarded as what are known as 'rogue states:' states that fail to sign or comply with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Chemical Weapons Convention. Israel is also not a signatory to these conventions, an anomaly that is regarded by most of the Muslim world as being an example of preferential treatment. India and Pakistan haven't signed the treaty. North Korea has never played by the rules.

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Weapons of Mass Destruction are particularly dangerous in the hands of a rogue state, because such states will sacrifice the interests of their civilians in order to maintain a large military. According to the North Korean press, its attempt to develop nuclear weapons will allow it to reduce the army of 1.1 million it has stationed at the border with South Korea. North Korea claims to be in possession of two nuclear weapons, and has recently developed launch capabilities capable of putting nuclear warheads in Japan. Perhaps more frightening is the skill with which North Korea executes intelligence operations. In 1983, North Korea sent three top agents to Burma to assassinate the President of South Korea as he and his cabinet visited a shrine. They detonated a bomb that killed 18 South Korean officials; the President survived. Given the volume of trade between the United States and the Pacific, North Korea could easily detonate a nuclear bomb in any American city along the west coast.

Perhaps one of the largest problems with North Korea's weapons capability is that it is infectious. Rogue states are usually very poor, and will export weapons and weapons technology to other countries that do not share the interests of the United States. Many hope that a wider acceptance of Non-Proliferation agreements would help to curtail this. The failure of such agreements has been a matter of.....

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in reasons underlying demand. The major part of the weapons proliferation during the Cold War wasn’t in preparedness for a real war; rather it can be regarded as the biggest Potlatch in world history. Potlatch is a kind of ceremony commonly held by Pacific Northwestern natives for ensuring political competition didn’t end in intra-community war (Naylor, 2004). Likewise, the aforementioned weapons proliferation of the Cold War (so far as it wasn’t, for the West, a mere huge arms sector boondoggle) saw participating nations overtly wasting maximum possible national resources for stockpiling arms never intended for use. The aim was… Continue Reading...

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