WMD Today

Subsections: Arms Control — Case Studies — How It Affects You — Terrorism

Many politicians and diplomats believe that weapons of mass destruction in the modern world can serve a positive role. Countries with WMDs can deter other nations from aggressive warfare (including the use of their own WMDs). The US and other nations persisted in developing biological and chemical weapons after WWI, but did not use such weapons during World War II. Historians say that nations refrained from using chemical weapons during WWII because they did not want to risk retaliation with the same class of weapons.

This theory of deterrence played a large role in the Cold War (1946-1991) between the United States and the Soviet Union. By the late 1950s, both nations possessed enough bombs to obliterate the other many times over. Despite high tensions, war did not break out because leaders of both nations knew that nuclear retaliation and destruction of their homeland would follow after an attack on the other.

This theory has become known by experts as mutually assured destruction. Some have argued that a similar balance has prevented additional warfare between the rival nations of India and Pakistan.

Unsecured Nuclear Weapons?

In the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union, up to 80,000 tactical nuclear weapons fell into the hands of Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) republics. In the midst of the political shuffle, many weapons were lost. Even some nuclear bombs stored today in Russia are not secured well.

A Soviet tactical nuclear weapon is mentioned to yield a maximum of two kilotons, enough to destroy much of New York City or Washington D.C. However, Soviet tactical nuclear weapons have a relatively short service life and require regular maintenance and a permissive action link (PAL) to operate. The weapon would require constant maintainance to prolong its destructive capabilities, and also SPETSNAZ personnel to detonate it.

Arms Control

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Because weapons of mass destruction raise serious moral and practical issues, they have long been the focus of international treaties and agreements aimed to control their possession, development, and use. The international community and the United Nations have done much in the past six decades to deter another catastrophic nuclear atrocity. Find out more about the various arms control treaties that comprise international law on Weapons of Mass Destruction.

Case Studies

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Since the issues associated with Weapons of Mass Destruction are of a global nature, we have compiled extensive case studies on "hot" areas around the world relating to WMD. We have also researched the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, a Nobel Prize-winning Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) to show how non-governmental players may affect the globe.

How WMD Affects You

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In addition to the deadly blast and heat effects of the primary detonation, nuclear bombs result in deadly gamma rays and other radiation. Exposure to intense radiation causes sickness and death in humans, especially in the form of cancer.

Terrorism

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Nowadays, the fear arises not from the potential deployment of a nuclear bomb by another nation, but by non-governmental terrorists groups. The importance of conflict between states has declined, and the role of nonstate actors, especially transnational terrorist organizations, has grown in the 21st century. For many citizens of the United States, the fear of a nuclear attack by the Soviet Union has been replaced by the nightmare of a terrorist attack involving biological, chemical, or nuclear weapons. Terrorist groups do not participate or sign international treaties and are not bound by international law. Many groups also utilize suicide tactics, which renders many traditional forms of arms control obselete.