Nuclear Britain
Something quickly on the Government announcement that it'll be replacing the UK's "Trident" nuclear weapons system.
The NPT obliges us as a nuclear state to work towards total nuclear disarmament. The UK’s justification for renewing Trident, that we need nuclear weapons in an uncertain world, is to say that we will always retain nuclear weapons, whatever the circumstances, because the circumstances may always change.
In other words, by using this justification, the UK has declared its intention to remain a nuclear power in perpetuity. It has therefore declared NPT to be a dead document as far as it is concerned.
This is bad for security.
Firstly, we now have zero credibility when it comes to telling non-nuclear states not to go nuclear. We have declared the NPT a dead document so they have no reason to abide by it.
Secondly, and more importantly the more states there are with nuclear weapons, and the longer nuclear weapons exist, the higher the likelihood that a situation will arise, inadvertently or otherwise, where they are used, with a holocaust resulting. Former Soviet systems, practically on hair triggers, are apparently in an ever-worsening state of disrepair. One wrong move, one misinterpreted action, could lead to the worst calamity the world has ever seen
The sensible thing to do in the interests of security is therefore to take the NPT seriously and work multilaterally through mutual security guarantees to steadily draw down the world's collective nuclear arsenal.
But this isn't about security. It’s about the geo-political leverage you get from borrowing some nukes from the US and then pretending you're a big shot on the international scene (which includes being prepared for first use – a genuinely disgusting policy).
All in all, another pathetic display on the world stage from New Labour's Britain, which would be merely laughable if it wasn't so profoundly dangerous.
The NPT obliges us as a nuclear state to work towards total nuclear disarmament. The UK’s justification for renewing Trident, that we need nuclear weapons in an uncertain world, is to say that we will always retain nuclear weapons, whatever the circumstances, because the circumstances may always change.
In other words, by using this justification, the UK has declared its intention to remain a nuclear power in perpetuity. It has therefore declared NPT to be a dead document as far as it is concerned.
This is bad for security.
Firstly, we now have zero credibility when it comes to telling non-nuclear states not to go nuclear. We have declared the NPT a dead document so they have no reason to abide by it.
Secondly, and more importantly the more states there are with nuclear weapons, and the longer nuclear weapons exist, the higher the likelihood that a situation will arise, inadvertently or otherwise, where they are used, with a holocaust resulting. Former Soviet systems, practically on hair triggers, are apparently in an ever-worsening state of disrepair. One wrong move, one misinterpreted action, could lead to the worst calamity the world has ever seen
The sensible thing to do in the interests of security is therefore to take the NPT seriously and work multilaterally through mutual security guarantees to steadily draw down the world's collective nuclear arsenal.
But this isn't about security. It’s about the geo-political leverage you get from borrowing some nukes from the US and then pretending you're a big shot on the international scene (which includes being prepared for first use – a genuinely disgusting policy).
All in all, another pathetic display on the world stage from New Labour's Britain, which would be merely laughable if it wasn't so profoundly dangerous.
Labels: Blair
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