The tensions of the current Cold War continue to heat up with the ongoing war in Ukraine, although headlines continue to concentrate on the war between Hamas and Israel.
The two conflicts are connected, as China and Russia are close to Iran, an Islamic theocracy that backs Hamas. One of the casualties of this Cold War will be nuclear testing – Russia and other powers are updating testing sites in preparation for use. We’re seeing a rebirth of the most destructive weapons in the world, as stated by writer Matthew Sparkes in his story “Could Nuclear Weapons Testing Resume as Global Tensions Rise?”
The US, in cooperation with the old Soviet Union, produced much in the way of quality nuclear arms control in the first Cold War. The Limited Test Ban Treaty was signed by the UK, US, and Soviet Union in 1963, forbidding the testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, underwater, or in outer space, but the treaty still permitted underground tests. The 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty put a stop to underground testing as well, but the US didn’t sign the treaty. It will not come into force until China, Egypt, Iran, Israel, and the US sign it.
Nuclear test bans are an effective form of arms control. More than 2,000 nuclear tests occurred between World War II and the signing of the CTBT. Since then, only a handful of tests have taken place, the last in 2017, said Sparkes. Russia ratified the treaty in 2000, but then it revoked the ratification this month. Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said the decision was being made because the US failed to ratify it. Further action is needed for Russia to officially leave the treaty, but current political turns mean the country may resume testing.
All three of the world’s major nuclear powers – China, the US, and Russia – appear to be heading for nuclear tests. What are we seeing? The geopolitical struggle that defines our world spilling over into the nuclear sphere. Of course, a nuclear war would be awful, but let’s also remember that humans are fallible, and accidents happen, and they could happen with nuclear weapons. An increasing number of nuclear weapons in the world means a greater chance that an accident might occur. Naturally, an accident in nuclear weaponry could be interpreted as an attack and could lead to a nuclear war.
The nation-states of the world must make some decisions. Can we control nuclear weapons? If we cannot, it will be a dangerous future. The tensions of the second Cold War continue to heat up with each passing month and year. The Arms Control Association’s Darryl Kimball addressed the nuclear side of the struggle in his story “Why We Must Reject Calls for a US Nuclear Buildup.” He suggested that the US should reject a nuclear buildup and work for effective arms control inside and outside the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty.
What path will we take? I guess history will write a story very soon.
