The Decline of Democratic Behavior and Nuclear Arms Control
By Maggie Hannick
An array of conflict and violence defines the history of our country.
But in recent years, the trend has grown stronger and stronger. From the assassinations and protests that took place in 1968, to the shootings and hatred in 2018, the question of violence – especially political violence – has been prevalent in our democracy. In the end, violence could mean its decline. Massacres, genocides, and fascism start with small behaviors of authority, power, fear, and hate. We’ve recently seen an upsurge of violence related to political action such as the recent killings in the Pittsburgh synagogue. Many are afraid that such events will increase in severity and frequency.
Arms control agreements have helped prevent violence on an international scale. The 1987 Cold War-era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty eliminated all of the United States’ and Russia’s conventional and nuclear missiles, as well as launchers, with ranges of 500 to 1,000 kilometers. Now President Donald Trump has proposed scrapping the treaty that prevented nuclear missiles from being deployed in Europe, the central battleground of the Cold War. A letter from the American College of National Security Leaders, which consists of top officers formally in the military, wrote that “[t]he INF Treaty is a bedrock to our current arms control regime and serves rather than hampers American interests.” Russia seems to like Trump’s plan, but some European leaders object it. Trump and his aids want to get rid of the INF Treaty because of a lack of Russian compliance. They also want a treaty that includes China.
Some have encouraged Trump to renegotiate the INF treaty and work with Russia to extend the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or New START – a 2010 nuclear arms reduction treaty signed by President Barack Obama that reduced the number of Russian and American nuclear warheads and missile launchers. New Start will expire in 2021. If the treaty expires, it will be the first time since the year of 1972 that the U.S. and Russia have not had a binding arms control agreement.
International law involves the establishment of treaties, and countries in a treaty must follow its rules. Behavior in a democracy must align with the rules set by the treaty in question and requires acceptance of them, just like people accept the results of elections. The decline of democratic behavior connects with the decline of treaties and therefore nuclear arms control. Because certain political actions affect democratic behavior which in turn impact laws – local to international – we are witnessing declines in both democratic behavior and the control of nuclear arms.
