Major Challenges in Nuclear Disarmament
Nuclear weapons are the most dangerous weapons on the planet. They can kill millions of people, and threaten the environment and lives of future generations through long term effects. Disarmament is believed to be the best protection from these dangers, but achieving this goal has been very difficult. There are many reasons why disarmament is challenging, but here are some of the major ones.
- Addressing the disconnection between commitments and application.
- States make many promises to disarm, but attainment is far in the future and it’s not being addressed.
- Addressing lack of inertia of disarmament actions as laid out by the United Nations.
- It’s been more than 20 years, and the Conference on Disarmament has achieved very little, and it also isn’t being addressed.
- There has been widespread skepticism about the effectiveness of disarmament efforts.
- Taking “Human Security” viewpoint into account.
- We need to start paying attention to the harmful effects that come with the use and testing of nuclear weapons on humans, animals, and plants.
- We need to put the people first.
- Addressing nuclear weapons and the economy.
- Maintenance and production of nuclear weapons costs billions of dollars. The U.S. arsenal alone is expected to cost $1 trillion over the next decade.
- People, especially the world's youth, are hurting from sunken economies. Such an expense doesn’t make sense from an economic, security, or humanitarian standpoint.