Authored by Ph.D. M. Selcuk Sancar

At the wake of the NPT Review Conference tentatively scheduled to take place in August 2021 (https://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/disarmament-fora/npt/2020) I see value in re-visiting the horrors of nuclear weapons and their advocated value for deterrence. At present, the debate on NPT as the cornerstone of nuclear non-proliferation is further fuelled with the entry into force of the “Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) in January 2021 (https://www.un.org/disarmament/wmd/nuclear/tpnw/). The question whether a Treaty without major nuclear powers would have added value is beyond the scope of this article, and obviously merits focused attention in another study. Let us now turn to our good-old discussion of “deterrence”.

The concept of “deterrence” is the underlying principle in international security and defence. If you wish to protect your country and your people from potential dangers/threats, you must possess a “credible deterrent” that would assure a “retaliation that would make the adversary regret its aggression against you”. This is the good-old notion of “discouraging the enemy from attacking”.

       Who would dare to touch this dog?

       Now, steps in the question as “why are nuclear weapons (nukes) so critical for deterrence?

We may survive dog-bites, those could be cured. Yet, survival from atomic bombs is impossible. A nuke is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from small amounts of matter.  Nukes produce immediate and delayed destructive effects. They cause significant destruction within seconds or minutes of a nuclear detonation.

The delayed effects such as radioactive fallout and other possible environmental effects, inflict damage over an extended period ranging from hours, years and even generations. Delayed effects include, but not limited to illnesses such as chromosome changes and Leukaemia, malignant tumour or cancer of the blood cells. Only two nuclear weapons (the “Fat Man” and the “Little Boy”) were used in 1945, in Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Immediate results were approximately 200,000 civilian deaths; let alone the generations following up until present. The Fat Man and the Little Boy were only “kittens”; we have “giant wildcats” now.

   Even a regional nuclear exchange could disrupt the global climate for a decade or more; destroying agriculture and causing famine. A major nuclear confrontation, on the other hand, is estimated to end human civilization: “The       Nuclear Winter”!!! This is what we have been calling, during the “Cold-War” period, the “MAD Doctrine: Mutually Assured Destruction”. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_assured_destruction)

 Thanks to arms control efforts that led to some considerable reductions in the post-cold war period. Nevertheless, the menace is still alive and kicking: The MAD Doctrine has been slightly tamed to, what I shall call the “CRAZY   Doctrine:  Currently Remaining Arms Zeroing Youth”; that keeps on lingering on our youth as the “Sword of Damocles”. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damocles) I believe, our young generations should be aloof from this   boundless  risk.

At this point, steps in the dual-nature of science:

Fans of “Star Wars”, the iconic movies with a cult, may remember that “the dark side of the force versus the light side: The good use of the Force in the service of humankind versus appetite for power: The dark side is used by the Sith Lords, infamous, Darth Vader:

Indeed, “good use of science is relevant also for biology and chemistry. Yet, this subject remains beyond the scope of this article and is to be followed in due course.