BANGLADESH INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AND STRATEGIC STUDIES

STEPS TO DEVALUE NUCLEAR WEAPONS

Author: Manpreet Sethi

DOI Link: https://www.doi.org/10.56888/BIISSj2001v22n3a4

ABSTRACT

With the end of the Cold War it had been anticipated that war, in general, and nuclear weapons, in particular, would lose their relevance. No such thing has, however, happened. Rather, nuclear weapons have tightened their hold over national security strategies in countries that possess these lethal weapons of mass destruction. Nuclear doctrines of the US, Russia, NATO, China, India and Pakistan perceive a certain value in their nuclear arsenals. The risks, nevertheless, of the continued existence of nuclear weapons cannot be underestimated. In fact, it is the reality and enormily of these risks that makes it imperative that ways to attain universal nuclear disarmament be seriously considered. In this context, the paper enumerates certain steps to achieve this by way of devaluing nuclear weapons. Once Ihey are gradually stripped of their utility and fall into a pattern of disuse, their abolition can then be conceived.