 SUBJECT : ARMS CONTROL AND DISARMAMENT

 TOPIC OF ASSIGNMENT : NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND

INTERNATIONAL STABILITY
 GROUP MEMBERS : MUHAMMAD RAFIQ, OWAIS
KHAN,SAQIB, SHAHZAIB
 SEMESTER : 7TH
 DESCIPLINE : BS INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
 SUBMITTED TO : DR.HUSSAIN SHAHEED
SOHARWARDI
 SECTION : EVENING
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‘’If I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought,
but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones. ’’.
‘’ Nuclear weapons offer us nothing but a balance of terror, and
a balance of terror is still terror’’.
‘’ The only thing that kept the Cold War cold was the mutual
deterrence afforded by nuclear weapons’’.1
First of all we are gonna see the concept of nuclear weapons and world
stability,also introduction to it. What are nuclear weapons and how does it
maintain stability in world peace,and how does it give so lethal challenges to
humanity. And what are the factors bring us close to nuclear wars,or what does it
prevent. These are the question scholars did work on it.(2)

CONCEPT:
A nuclear weapon is an explosive invention that derives its destructive force from
nuclear reactions,from a combination of fission and fusion reactions which is
called thermos nuclear bomb which produce enormous explosive energy. Both
bomb types release large quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of
matter. It has got a fascinated weaponry category. These nuclear weapons share
a direct huge relationship with humanity. We can see this relationship in the form
of advantages and disadvantages of nuclear weapons in human lives.(3) Going
back in history records tells us if nuclear weapons has constructed us or
destructed us. We can see both the effects, it gives peace sometimes but also give
very brutal consequences. There are so many theories and paradoxes in
international relations like Stability and instability paradox which states that when
two countries each have nuclear weapons, the probability of a direct war
between them greatly decreases, but the probability of minor or indirect conflicts
between them increases. But some theorists say it has a great bonding power and
bring humanity towards peace in the form of balance of power. Some theorists
say,it bring us security threats like security of one is the insecurity of another.(4)

RELATED FACTS:
Since twenty century ,humankind has started using nuclear power and the
innovation of nuclear power and the innovation of nuclear technology has
brought human beings into a change world. This has begun new era of benefits,
like nuclear plants, it only needs a very little amount of uranium to produce cheap
and clean energy for whole cities nearby. However it has brought a few lethal
disadvantages like nuclear bombs,or few disasters in charnobyl (26 April 1986)
and Fukushima (11 March 2011).(5) It is highly hazardous not only to nearby
citizens but also nations. Nuclear weapons can accidentally lead to radiation
disaster with a massive destruction. Residual radiation from nuclear weapons can
destroy the environment and wild life for centuries.(6)

The world became aware of the strength and ability to cause great damage since
the destruction caused from the bombing of Japanese cities Hiroshima and
Nagasaki in 1945.(7)

According to the bulletin of the atomic scientists nuclear notebook,the total

number of nuclear weapons world wide is estimated at 9220 in 2017 which shows
countries want to increase there power,status,and security by possessing nuclear
weapons but majority of countries want to eliminate the existential threat of
nuclear weapon.(8)

World peace is the concept of an ideal state of happiness,freedom and peace

within and among all people and nations on earth. This idea world non violence is
one motivation for people and nations to willingly cooperate,but nuclear weapons
is threat to world peace.(9)

On a whole nuclear technology is beneficial to mankind especially on energy

issue. Meanwhile it is also life threatening hazards to all species on earth .(10)

INTRODUCTION:
There is a widespread belief that nuclear weapons produce a kind of strategic
stability between two states. That as long as two states have nuclear weapons ,
each with a secure second strike capability,that means they have weapons in
hardened silos,on airplanes ready to launch,or on sub marines. So enough can
survive a major attack to retaliate and destroy an enemy cities,then stable mutual
deterrence often called mutually assured destruction will exist. And each side will
therefore refrain from going to war with the other. So that’s the simple theory of
nuclear stability. Yes if you look more closely at the reality of nuclear history,you
will discover reasons to believe that nuclear stability is actually quite fragile.In
highly complex systems like nuclear arsenals ,no one can predict,and therefore fix
ahead of time,all the little things that can go wrong.(11) And overtime the
likelihood of little things going wrong multiplies, and low probability events occur
and interact, to produce unexpected and un acceptable risk. So that even if one
belief that nuclear weapons deployed in a secure ,second strike manner, might
produce caution on the part of great leaders, there are still at least three major
categories of problems one should consider, in order to better understand the
reality of risk. First is the possibility of accidental nuclear war. Second is how to
avoid a preventive war during a period of transition when one side is building
nuclear weapons and the other side already has them.(12) And the third is when
leaders draw red lines, making threats that lead something to chance, and they
get caught in a commitment trap. These three problems with nuclear stability are
not theoretical. When we examine the historical record we can find multiple
examples that demonstrate how these three factors –Accidental war, preventive
war and a commitment trap actually played out. Here I am going to recount
stories to make this point.(13) We will first look at the 1962 Cuban missile crisis,
as well as earlier considerations by the united states leaders who contemplated
preventive nuclear war. We will then examine another example, less familiar
crisis between two other nuclear armed countries, India and Pakistan. A crisis that
occur after the end of the cold war, to illustrate how the destabalizing forces at
work in 1962 can still play out even today, creating uncertainty and decreasing
nuclear stability.(14)

The most highlighting question which is still needs attention is if nuclear power
was fascillitating states with energy so when have nuclear weapons come closest
to destabilizing world peace and how close to the brink of nuclear war did the
world come? One more thing is added to this question ,how controllable was
that. So the lack of control over nuclear weapons has brought us to nuclear
conflicts or to the brink of nuclear wars so many times in the history like Cuban
missile crisis and Korean war initial stages and the November 1983 able archer
incident, in which NATO communications exercise was felt by some as a nuclear
preparation in Moscow, this could have resulted nuclear war. (15)
REFRENCES:

 https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/nuclear-weapons-
quotes
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stability
%e2%80%93instability_paradox
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RrifLNhWP8
 https://www.stimson.org/event/stimson-debate-
nuclear-weapons-and-international-stability/
 https://www.ukessays.com/essays/international-
relations/nuclear-weapons-promote-peace-3399.php
 International relations book by Parkash Chander
 International relations book by Gold Smith
 Mueller, J. (1988). The Essential Irrelevance of Nuclear
Weapons: Stability in the Postwar World. International
Security, 13(2), 55-70. doi:10.2307/2538971
 Rauchhaus, R. (2009, January 27). Evaluating the Nuclear
Peace Hypothesis. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 53(2),
 258 – 277.
doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/0022002708330387

 Rauchhaus, R. (2015, June 23). Do Nuclear Weapons

Promote Peace? [Recorded by C. BYU Kennedy].
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=6vANkq6G9mw

 Rauchhaus, R. (2015). Do Nuclear Weapons Promote

Peace? Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vANkq6G9mw

 Sagan, S. (1994). The Perils of Proliferation: Organization

Theory, Deterrence Theory and the Spread of Nuclear
Weapons. International Security, 18(4), 66-107.

 Sagan, S. D. (1993). The limits of safety: Organizations,

accidents, and nuclear weapons. Princeton, N.J. :
Princeton University Press.
 Seepersad, D.-M. (2011, February 17). The politics of
bipolarity and IPE in contemporary times. E-International
Relations Students, n/a. Retrieved from http://www.e-
ir.info/2011/02/17/the-politics-of-bipolarity-and-ipe-in-
contemporary-times/

 https://t.co/GU4aCezVqt?amp=1